The Museum Book

From its Origins to the 21st Century

At all moments of their history, museums have stood as records of humanity’s greatest achievement, and also indices of what we value and deem significant in the world today and therefore what we feel we must preserve for future generations.

The Museum by Owen Hopkins charts the evolution of museums, from their origins in princely collections and cabinets of curiosity, through the Enlightenment, the reforming ideals of the 19th century, to the emergence of the modern museum and the global museum of today.

It explores the tight relationship between museums and architecture, between institutions and their manifestations in built form. It argues that architecture is as important to the conception of museums as their collections and their publics.

Over the course of five chapters filled with stunning imagery that highlights the beauty of these venerated buildings, the origins of key institutions are revealed, including: Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum, Tate Modern, Hermitage, Guggenheim, Smithsonian Institute and Acropolis Museum.