Article ID: CBB000932315

150 Years of Changing Attitudes Towards Zoological Collections in a University Museum: The Case of the Thomas Bell Tortoise Collection in the Oxford University Museum (2009)

unapi

vThomas Bell's collection of tortoises arrived in the Oxford University Museum in 1862 as part of the great benefaction of the Reverend F. W. Hope. The collection's fate, together with the fate of other zoological collections of the University, was closely linked with the research and personal interests of the Heads of Departments in the Museum. The whole collection was at first exhibited in the Museum's Main Court for over thirty years, followed by the removal of most of its specimens to stores, with only a small number left on display. In between, the specimens were the subject of furious custodianship claims, and only in 1956, after nearly a century in Oxford, were the tortoises finally entered in the accession catalogues of the Zoological Collections. The battles and controversies surrounding the collection reflected the changes in teaching and the approach to the natural history collections in the oldest university in the United Kingdom.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000932315/

Similar Citations

Book Gosden, Chris; Larson, Frances; Petch, Alison; (2007)
Knowing Things: Exploring the Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum, 1884--1945 (/isis/citation/CBB000830510/)

Book Longair, Sarah; McAleer, John; (2012)
Curating Empire: Museums and the British Imperial Experience (/isis/citation/CBB001201464/)

Book Larson, Frances; (2009)
An Infinity of Things: How Sir Henry Wellcome Collected the World (/isis/citation/CBB001031591/)

Article Anderson, Lyall I.; Lowe, Mathew; (2010)
Charles W. Peach and Darwin's Barnacles (/isis/citation/CBB001231387/)

Book MacKenzie, John M.; (2010)
Museums and Empire: Natural History, Human Cultures and Colonial Identities (/isis/citation/CBB001033274/)

Book Harrison, Simon; (2012)
Dark Trophies: Hunting and the Enemy Body in Modern War (/isis/citation/CBB001200727/)

Article Sloboda, Stacey; (2010)
Displaying Materials: Porcelain and Natural History in the Duchess of Portland's Museum (/isis/citation/CBB001231149/)

Book Alberti, Samuel J. M. M.; (2009)
Nature and Culture: Objects, Disciplines and the Manchester Museum (/isis/citation/CBB001031468/)

Chapter Beckman, Jenny; (2005)
The Swedish Museum of Natural History and the “Linnaean Tradition” (/isis/citation/CBB000620132/)

Article Hollier, John; Hollier, Anita; Schnyder, Cédric; (2015)
The Publications and Collections of Louis-Albert Necker (1786--1861) (/isis/citation/CBB001422135/)

Article Carroll, Victoria; (2004)
The Natural History of Visiting: Responses to Charles Waterton and Walton Hall (/isis/citation/CBB000501596/)

Article Jansen, J. J. F. J.; Mije, S. D. van der; (2015)
Review of the Mounted Skins and Skulls of the Extinct Falkland Islands Wolf, Dusicyon australis, Held in Museum Collections (/isis/citation/CBB001500441/)

Book Steven Lubar; (2017)
Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present (/isis/citation/CBB335185013/)

Article Grouw, H. Van; Bloch, D.; (2015)
History of the Extant Museum Specimens of the Faroese White-Speckled Raven (/isis/citation/CBB001500435/)

Authors & Contributors
Larson, Frances
Uwe Albrecht
Schnyder, Cédric
Mije, S. D. van der
Jansen, J. J. F. J.
Hollier, John
Concepts
Museums
Collectors and collecting
Natural history
Biological specimens
Collections
Specimens
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
18th century
Ancient
Places
Great Britain
Manchester (England)
Sweden
North America
Greece
Geneva (Switzerland)
Institutions
Oxford University
Pitt Rivers Museum (University of Oxford)
Naturhistoriska riksmuseet
Brown University
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment