An Infinity of Things. How Sir Henry Wellcome collected the World

Abstract

Collectors are alike but different. They can be analysed in psychological, sociological, historical terms, but behind every great collector and collection there is a fascinating, complex, individual story. In her study of Sir Henry Wellcome (1853-1936) Frances Larson sets out to write ‘the biography of a collection’. Her approach is not to follow a strict chronology but rather to present four overlapping themes: the late nineteenth-century roots of Wellcome's collecting instinct; the early twentieth-century expansion of his collection; its immediate outcome in the form of the Wellcome Historical Medical Exhibition (later Museum), opened in 1913, and Wellcome's relations with his staff; and the eventual fate and legacy of Wellcome's collection. It is difficult, when considering his origins, the scale and the passion of Wellcome's collecting activities, not to be reminded of the fictional Citizen Kane or even the non-fictional William Randolph Hearst. However, as Larson points out, Wellcome always claimed to have an altruistic focus. He was following what appeared to him to be a logical, intellectual, plan namely ‘to provide a precise portrayal of humanity's medical past, with nothing omitted or needlessly misconstrued.’ From concentrating on the strictly ‘medical’ he in due course branched out into broader areas of cultural history, in particular anthropology. In the end, as Larson demonstrates, total precision was not achievable. Wellcome's attempt to follow his dream left him and his heirs, like Kane, overwhelmed by the sheer size of his collection.