Donovan's expensive purchases, his dealings with (according to him) unscrupulous book publishers, and the economic decline in England after the Napoleonic Wars, forced the closure of his museum in 1817 and the auction of his collection in 1818.
As costosas compras que fixera Donovan, o seu trato cos editores sen escrúpulos (segudo el), e a depresión económica de Inglaterra despois das Guerras Napoleónicas, obrigouno a pechar o seu museo en 1817 e a poxar a súa colección en 1818.