The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Ashmolean Museum (Original Building)
Oxford University (Institution), Oxford (Settlement), Oxfordshire (County [UK]), England
View Larger MapDescription of institution: Built in 1683 to house Elias Ashmole's collection, it was the world's first purpose-built museum building and was also open to the public. The original concept of the museum was to institutionalize the new learning about nature that appeared in the 17th century and experiments concerning natural philosophy were undertaken in a chemical laboratory in the basement, while lectures and demonstration took place in the School of Natural History, on the middle floor. Ashmole's collection was expanded to include a broad range of activities associated with the history of natural knowledge and in 1924 the gift of Lewis Evans' collection allowed the museum further improvement, becoming the Museum of the History of Science and appointing Robert Gunther as its first curator. (Wikipedia)
This building is now occupied by the Museum of the History of Science. URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_History_of_Science,_Oxford Location contains: Chemical laboratory (Room or place in a building)
Print Sources linked to this location: Subject of discourse or work of art - Solomon's House in Oxford: New Finds from the First Museum .