ABSTRACT
Joseph Banks participated in the enormous increase of mainly classical antiquities at the British Museum after 1800. The obligations of the Museum, the expectations of collectors, the market prices available for collections and the funds government might provide for them to be purchased, transferred and housed all led to controversial differences. This chapter covers these issues after beginning with a discussion on Banks's travel and library work to know how he made an impact in London and at the British Museum in the years leading to the 1790s. The period 1800-20 was a time when antiquities were coming to the fore, and the collections in the Museum were to expand massively, far exceeding its ability to cope. A survey of the final years (1805-20) of Banks's life shows a variety of activities still being undertaken at the British Museum. The chapter also talks about the controversy generated by the Egyptian sculpture, the so-called head of the Younger Memnon.
