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

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The Ashmolean as a Museum of Natural History, 1683-1860

Secondary Title (i.e. Proceedings Title): Editions of this work: Periodical Title:Journal of the History of Collections Publication Type:Journal Article Authors:MacGregor,Arthur
 Editors: Publisher: Place of Publication: Publication Date:2001 Alternate Date (i.e. Conference Date): Volume:13 Issue:2 Start Page:125 End Page:144 Abstract:For almost two centuries the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford functioned as an integrated scientific institution, combining a conventional museum display with a chemical laboratory and a school of natural history. The history of the collection of 'naturalia' is examined here in terms of three principal phases. During the earliest of these the character of the displays as revealed by contemporary catalogs was largely conditioned by the collection's genesis in a 17th-century cabinet of curiosities; in the second phase, centered early in the second half of the 18th century, the impact of Carolus Linnaeus (1707-78) began to make itself felt; in the third phase, occupying the second quarter of the 19th century, the entire collection was redisplayed as an exposition of natural theology. Finally, by 1860, the natural specimens were transferred from the Ashmolean, leaving a much-reduced collection of manmade objects from which the Museum in its current form was later relaunched. [J]
 Descriptors/Keywords:Natural Theology
Natural History
Museums
England (Oxford)
Ashmolean Museum
 ISBN:09546650 URL:http://search.ebscohost.com.cyber.usask.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hia&AN=H001653951.01&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live
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