Archives and Library: archive collections

The Museum holds a significant archive of correspondence, papers, maps and photographs relating to the development of natural history as a science.

A wide range of archival material relates to the Museum’s specimen collections and was donated with them to the Museum. There are also a number of manuscript collections of varying size from some of the most notable naturalists in English history.

Prominent collections include:

• J.O. Westwood
• William Buckland
• William Smith
• John Phillips
• E.B. Poulton
• L.R. Wager
• William Burchell
• William Sollas
• J.M. Edmonds

The majority of the collection represents the professional work of those associated with the museum and/or Oxford University around the period 1830-1890. There are, however, some notable exceptions to this, including a number of original manuscripts such as the Jones ‘Icones’ and a collection of rare books on early Natural History. The Archive also includes material related the history of the Museum and its building.

Listings for the archive collections are available online.

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