Henry's collections

The child of a pioneering family in the Midwest, Henry Wellcome had a lifelong sympathy for the dispossessed American Indians. He believed strongly that the study of past ways of life acted as a vital spur to progress.

This belief underlay his ambitious plan to create a 'museum of man', illustrating all aspects of humankind's medical past through objects assembled from every era and place. For this he amassed one of the UK's most important collections: over one and a half million objects relating to medicine from every period across the globe.

After World War I he expanded the scale of his collecting, employing a network of commercial buying agents around the world. He tried to keep his activities secret by sending members of his staff to bid at auctions under pseudonyms. The disruption of the war meant people were prepared to sell their possessions cheaply for hard cash, and in many cases Wellcome paid extraordinarily low prices.

After his death, many items were dispersed to institutions throughout the world, culminating in a transfer of the remainder of the museum to the Science Museum in the 1970s. The 'Medicine Man' exhibition at the British Museum in 2003 brought together many of these dispersed objects.

Many of the extraordinary objects collected by Henry Wellcome can now be found in their permanent home: 'Medicine Man' at Wellcome Collection.

As well as objects, Wellcome collected thousands of books relating to medical history and built up a vast history of medicine library. This is now part of the Wellcome Library.