The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700

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John Woodward and a Surviving British Geological Collection from the Early Eighteenth Century

Secondary Title (i.e. Proceedings Title): Periodical Title:Journal of the History of Collections Publication Type:Journal Article Authors:Price,David
 Editors: Publisher: Place of Publication: Publication Date:1989 Alternate Date (i.e. Conference Date): Volume:1 Issue:1 Start Page:79 End Page:95 Abstract:John Woodward's collection of 'fossils' is unusual for its time in being not a miscellaneous assemblage of the rare and curious but a comprehensive, representative, and truly 'scientific' collection, carefully documented and used by Woodward as the basis for elaborate classifications. It was amassed between 1688 and 1724, and came to a total of around 9,400 specimens. Its continual growth led to a complex arrangement and numbering scheme for both specimens and catalogues. After Woodward's death the collection was transferred to the University of Cambridge in its four original cabinets. Though rearranged, it survives virtually intact. Roughly half comprises minerals and rocks, and half organic fossils. There is some recent shell and plant material, and there are a few artifacts. Its 'English' component covers most of England and parts of south and mid-Wales. Foreign material comes from most of the known world of the early eighteenth century. There are specimens figured in early works of Agostino Scilla, Martin Lister, and John Morton, and many others donated by Woodward's contemporaries. [J]
 Descriptors/Keywords:Woodward, John
Geology
England
Collectors and Collecting
 ISBN:09546650 URL:http://search.ebscohost.com.cyber.usask.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hia&AN=H001395662.01&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live
Documents in Print Item: No Documents Listed in Print Item Attached People: Mentions or references - Lister, Martin (12 Apr 1639-2 Feb 1712)
Mentions or references - Morton, John (1671-1726)
Subject of/in a document - Woodward, John (1 May 1665 or 1668-25 Apr 1728)
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