The Museum's collections were British and European medieval antiquities, prehistory, branching out into Asia and diversifying its holdings of ethnography.

The British Museum is a museum located in the Bloomsbury area of London, United Kingdom. It is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is one of the largest and most important museums in the world. The museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. It has since grown to become one of the world's largest and most important collections of artefacts and objects from around the world. The museum houses more than 8 million objects from all continents, from the dawn of human history to the present day.

It has a wide range of departments, including antiquities, prints and drawings, coins and medals, and archaeology. The British Museum is also home to a number of other collections, including the Wallace Collection, the Wellcome Collection, and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. It also hosts a number of temporary exhibitions and events, such as lectures, educational programmes, and family days. The museum's library is one of the world's largest and most important libraries, containing more than 7 million books, manuscripts and other documents. It also has a large number of online resources, available to the public.