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I met up with Mark Spencer, keeper of the Sloane Collection.

Wow, this is incredible. How are you doing?

Very well, thank you. Hello.

Look, it's amazing. How many volumes have you got?

There are about 260 volumes belonging to.

In 1687, Hans Sloane joined a ship heading to the West Indies. 1687

He collected and studied everything he could find,

including many species new to science.

On the death of Sir Hans Sloane in 1753, 1753

he bequeathed his collections, which were huge, to the nation,

and they form the basis of this museum, the British Library, and the British Museum in Bloomsbury,

so they're of international importance.

So why did he make these collections?

Sloane was really going out into the world partly to go actually and see his slave plantations which he'd just inherited in Jamaica,

but also to really look at the world.

He was fascinated in nature and natural history,

he'd already been collecting plant specimens in England when he was a younger man,

so it really was in his blood.

But it was also done for hard reasons, he was out to make a living and to make his reputation.

We're really looking, one, at a fantastic collection, but really the heart of the museum.