Article ID: CBB001421534

A Rediscovery of Alfred Russel Wallace's Fern Collection from Borneo at the Cambridge University Herbarium (2014)

unapi

Alfred Russel Wallace spent eight years in South-East Asia studying the biodiversity of the region in the course of visits to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. His collections, extensively and scrupulously acquired in the Malay Archipelago, include zoological specimens such as insects, birds, reptiles and mammals. In addition, Wallace collected botanical and ethnological material. The bulk of his zoological collection is deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, and other specimens are to be found in a variety of British museums, for example insects in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and in private collections. Wallace's collection is made up primarily of insects (of which he obtained nearly 110 000 specimens), birds (8050 specimens), mammals and other vertebrates (410 specimens), marine and land shells (7500 specimens) and plants.1 Wallace tried, with remarkable success, to collect specimens in perfect condition and with several duplicates.2 Owing to the immense number of samples, his collection has not received the attention it deserves. Moreover, even though most of his collection is in the Natural History Museum, the fact that it was sold to several buyers means that it has been difficult to study it in its entirety.3

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001421534/

Similar Citations

Book Wallace, Alfred Russel; van Wyhe, John; (2014)
The Annotated Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace (/isis/citation/CBB001510161/)

Book Barnard, Timothy P.; (2014)
Nature Contained: Environmental Histories of Singapore (/isis/citation/CBB001422376/)

Book Robert Huxley; (2020)
The Collectors: Creating Hans Sloane's Extraordinary Herbarium (/isis/citation/CBB888649046/)

Article Smith, Charles H.; (2008)
Alfred Russel Wallace, Journalist (/isis/citation/CBB000931215/)

Book David J. Mabberley; David T. Moore; (2022)
The Robert Brown Handbook: A Guide to the Life and Work of Robert Brown (1773-1858), Scottish Botanist (/isis/citation/CBB648619110/)

Article Gaetano Pazienza; Luigi Forte; Viviana Cavallaro; (2023)
Alfonso Palanza (1851–1899): A late nineteenth-century Italian botanist and his herbaria (/isis/citation/CBB965460692/)

Book Robert McCracken Peck; Rosamond Purcell; (2018)
Specimens of Hair: The Curious Collection of Peter A. Browne (/isis/citation/CBB864486797/)

Article Shira Shmuely; (2020)
Alfred Wallace’s Baby Orangutan: Game, Pet, Specimen (/isis/citation/CBB786517117/)

Article Fagan, Melinda B.; (2007)
Wallace, Darwin, and the Practice of Natural History (/isis/citation/CBB000773238/)

Book Ken Thompson; (2019)
Darwin's Most Wonderful Plants: A Tour of His Botanical Legacy (/isis/citation/CBB496800172/)

Book Morris, Pat; (2010)
A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science, and Bad Taste (/isis/citation/CBB001230611/)

Book Newell, Jennifer; (2010)
Trading Nature: Tahitians, Europeans, and Ecological Exchange (/isis/citation/CBB001230901/)

Book Nisbet, Jack; (2009)
The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest (/isis/citation/CBB001210333/)

Article Charles Rowland Twidale; (2022)
J.R. Logan and the origin of the tropical inselbergs known as nubbins (or knolls) (/isis/citation/CBB559354002/)

Book Ellis, Elizabeth; (2010)
Rare and Curious: The Secret History of Governor Macquarie's Collectors' Chest (/isis/citation/CBB001033605/)

Article Noltie, H. J.; (2011)
A Botanical Group in Lahore, 1864 (/isis/citation/CBB001230618/)

Article Beckman, Jenny; (2011)
Collecting Standards: Teaching Botanical Skills in Sweden, 1850--1950 (/isis/citation/CBB001034616/)

Authors & Contributors
Charles Rowland Twidale
Gaetano Pazienza
Shmuely, Shira Dina
Viviana Cavallaro
Luigi Forte
Barnard, Timothy P.
Concepts
Natural history
Collectors and collecting
Botany
Biological diversity; biodiversity
Naturalists
Herbarium; herbaria
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
18th century
20th century, early
17th century
Places
Singapore
Great Britain
Malay; Malaysia
India
Tahiti
Pacific Northwest (North America)
Institutions
Natural History Museum (London, England)
British Library
Zoological Society of London
Linnean Society of London
British East India Company
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Comments

Be the first to comment!

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

Log in or register to comment