Engraved printing plate for plate 9, in Charles Combe, Nummorum veterum populorum et urbium ... descriptio

By the eighteenth century the virtual royal and aristocratic monopoly on accumulating valuable art and artefacts was giving way to the fresh pursuit of this activity by the rising professional classes, including lawyers, doctors, academics, and merchants. In no field was this better exemplified than in the formation of coin cabinets, among which, by the 1770s, that assembled by William Hunter...

This essay explores the nature of William Hunter’s museum and seeks to identify the underlying concepts that connect together the diverse elements of his extensive collections. Recovering these is no easy task, since the museum encompasses academic disciplines that are now considered separate, as well as a multiplicity of artefacts and objects with distinct histories. Despite this apparent...