Leverian collection

Last updated

Leverian Museum
Perspective interior view of Sir Ashton Lever's Museum in Leicester Square, London March 30 1785. Watercolour by Sarah Stone.jpg
Interior view of Sir Ashton Lever's Museum, Leicester Square, London, 30 March 1785
Open street map central london.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Central London
Established1775 (1775)
Location Leicester Square, London
Coordinates 51°30′37″N0°07′49″W / 51.510278°N 0.130278°W / 51.510278; -0.130278
Collection sizec. 28,000 objects
DirectorSir Ashton Lever
Website A collection of drawings by Sarah Stone

The Leverian collection was a natural history and ethnographic collection assembled by Ashton Lever. It was noted for the content it acquired from the voyages of Captain James Cook. For three decades it was displayed in London, being broken up by auction in 1806. [1] The first public location of the collection was the Holophusikon, also known as the Leverian Museum, at Leicester House, on Leicester Square, from 1775 to 1786. After it passed from Lever's ownership, it was displayed for nearly twenty years more at the purpose-built Blackfriars Rotunda just across the Thames, sometimes called Parkinson's Museum for its subsequent owner, James Parkinson (c. 1730-1813).

Contents

At Alkrington

Lever collected fossils, shells, and animals (birds, insects, reptiles, fish, monkeys) for many years, accumulating a large collection at his home at Alkrington, near Manchester. Admittance to the collection was free, but visitors who arrived on foot were turned away; only those who could afford a carriage or riding horse were welcome. He decided to exhibit the collection in London as a commercial venture, charging an entrance fee. [2]

At Leicester House

Aquatint of exhibit of a stuffed hippopotamus from Charles Catton's Animals Charles Catton, Animals (1788) Page72 Image1.jpg
Aquatint of exhibit of a stuffed hippopotamus from Charles Catton's Animals

Lever acquired a lease of Leicester House in 1774, converting the principal rooms on the first floor into a single large gallery running the length of the house, and opened his museum in February 1775, with around 25,000 exhibits (a small fraction of his collection) valued at over £40,000. [4] [5] The display included many natural and ethnographic items gathered by Captain James Cook on his voyages. [6] The museum took its name from its supposedly universal coverage of natural history, [4] and was essentially a huge cabinet of curiosities.

Lever charged an entry fee of 5s. 3d., or two guineas for an annual ticket, and the museum had a degree of commercial success; the receipts in 1782 were £2,253. [4] In an effort to draw in the crowds, Lever later reduced the entrance fee to half a crown (2s. 6d.). [4] [6] Lever was constantly looking for new exhibits. However, he spent more on new exhibits than he raised in entrance fees.[ citation needed ]

One admirer of the museum was a young Philip Bury Duncan, who went on to become keeper of the Ashmolean Museum. [7] Among the objects displayed was the large Viking silver thistle brooch from the Penrith Hoard, discovered by a boy in Cumbria in 1785. In 1787, a print of it was published, claiming that it was the insignia of the Knights Templar. [8] It was bought by the British Museum in 1909 (M&ME 1909,6-24,2).

Lottery for the collection

Sale by Lottery of Sir Ashton Lever's Museum Act 1784
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of Great Britain (1714-1801).svg
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title An Act for enabling Sir Ashton Lever to dispose of his Museum as now exhibited at Leicester House, by Way of Chance.
Citation 24 Geo. 3. Sess. 2. c. 22
Dates
Royal assent 30 July 1784
Other legislation
Repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1948
Status: Repealed

The British Museum and Catherine II of Russia both refused to buy the collection, so Lever obtained an Act of Parliament in 1784 to sell the whole by lottery. He only sold 8,000 tickets at a guinea each – he had hoped to sell 36,000. [6]

The collection was acquired by James Parkinson, a land agent and accountant. [4] It continued to be displayed at Leicester House until Lever's death in 1788, at a reduced entrance fee of one shilling. [6]

Move south of the Thames

Parkinson transferred the Leverian collection to a purpose-built Rotunda building, at what would later be No. 3 Blackfriars Road. Leicester House itself was demolished in 1791. [4] [6]

Leverian Museum collection in the Rotunda. Engraving by William Skelton after Charles Reuben Ryley Leverian museum at the Rotunda.jpg
Leverian Museum collection in the Rotunda. Engraving by William Skelton after Charles Reuben Ryley

A catalogue and guide was printed in 1790. [9] Parkinson also had George Shaw write an illustrated scientific work; [10] the artists involved included Philip Reinagle, Charles Reuben Ryley, William Skelton, Sarah Stone, and Sydenham Edwards. [11] [12] Some of John White's specimens were put on public display there for the first time. [13] The museum also served as a resource and opportunity for women. Ellenor Fenn wrote A Short History of Insects (1796/7), which also served as a "pocket companion" for the museum. [14] The artist Sarah Stone continued to work for Parkinson, as she had done for Lever. [15]

Parkinson had some success in getting naturalists to attend the museum, which was easier at the time to visit than the British Museum. Heinrich Friedrich Link, who visited in 1799, was complimentary. [16]

Disposal of the collection

Parkinson also tried to sell the contents at various times. One attempt, a proposed purchase by the government, was wrecked by the adverse opinion of Sir Joseph Banks. [17] In the end, for financial reasons, Parkinson sold the collection in lots by auction in 1806. [4] Among the buyers were Edward Donovan, Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, and William Bullock; many items went to other museums, including the Imperial Museum of Vienna. [18]

The contents of the museum are well recorded, from a catalogue of the museum created in 1784, and the sale catalogue in 1806, with a contemporary series of watercolours of its contents by Sarah Stone. [19] There are also sale catalogue annotations allowing, for example, the counting of 37 lots bought by Alexander Macleay. [20] The Royal College of Surgeons bought 79 lots, and notes by William Clift survive. [21] Purchases from the sale founded the collection of Richard Cuming. [22] In all 7,879 lots were sold over 65 days. [23]

Surviving specimens and objects

The specimens purchased by Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, were bequeathed to the people of Liverpool upon his death in 1851 and were part of the founding collection of what is now World Museum, National Museums Liverpool. Stanley bought approximately 117 mounted birds, representing some 96 species, at the auction in 1806. [24] 82 specimens still survived in 1812, 74 in 1823, and at least 29 in 1850. Among the present collections of World Museum are 25 study skins (relaxed mounts) of 22 species recognized as having originated from the Leverian Sale. Nine are recognized as having been collected during the second voyage of James Cook and third voyage of James Cook. [25]

A number of ethnographic objects survive in the collections of the British Museum. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater short-toed lark</span> Species of bird

The greater short-toed lark is a small passerine bird. The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, Calandrella, is a diminutive of kalandros, the calandra lark, and brachydactila is from brakhus, "short", and daktulos, "toe".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Museum</span> Natural and physical science museum in Liverpool, England

World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the museum is free. The museum is part of National Museums Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainbow lorikeet</span> Species of bird

The rainbow lorikeet is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Six taxa traditionally listed as subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet are now treated as separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashton Lever</span> English collector of natural objects (1729–1788)

Sir Ashton Lever FRS was an English collector of natural objects, in particular the Leverian collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacred kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The sacred kingfisher is a medium-sized woodland kingfisher that occurs in mangroves, woodlands, forests and river valleys in Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the western Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern pochard</span> Species of bird

The southern pochard is a species of duck, and a member of the genus Netta. There are two subspecies, the South American (southern) pochard N. e. erythrophthalma and the African (southern) pochard N. e. brunnea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swainson's spurfowl</span> Species of bird

Swainson's spurfowl or Swainson's francolin is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae which is native to southern Africa. In the Shona language in Zimbabwe, this bird is called the chikwari or horwe and is considered a delicacy by outdoor and hunting enthusiasts. Swainson's spurfowl was named after William Swainson, an English ornithologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-faced ibis</span> Species of bird

The black-faced ibis is a species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae. It is found in grassland and fields in southern and western South America. It has been included as a subspecies of the similar buff-necked ibis, but today all major authorities accept the split. The black-faced ibis also includes the Andean ibis as a subspecies. Some taxonomic authorities still do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The Society kingfisher or Tahiti kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barred cuckooshrike</span> Species of bird

The barred cuckooshrike, also called the yellow-eyed cuckooshrike, is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in eastern Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed triller</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed triller is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The Norfolk Island subspecies of the long-tailed triller, the Norfolk triller, has become extinct. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-crowned tityra</span> Species of bird

The black-crowned tityra is a medium-sized passerine bird. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae.

James Parkinson was an English land agent and the proprietor of the Leverian Museum which he won in a lottery. He then moved the Leverian collection to a museum at the Blackfriars Rotunda which was sometimes referred to as "Parkinson's Museum". He has sometimes been confused with the surgeon James Parkinson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ʻAhu ʻula</span> Cloak of featherwork worn by men and women of high rank in Ancient Hawaii

The ʻahu ʻula, and the mahiole were symbols of the highest rank of the chiefly aliʻi class of ancient Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotted green pigeon</span> Extinct species of bird

The spotted green pigeon or Liverpool pigeon is a species of pigeon which is most likely extinct. It was first mentioned and described in 1783 by John Latham, who had seen two specimens of unknown provenance and a drawing depicting the bird. The taxonomic relationships of the bird were long obscure, and early writers suggested many different possibilities, though the idea that it was related to the Nicobar pigeon prevailed, and it was therefore placed in the same genus, Caloenas. Today, the species is only known from a specimen kept in World Museum, Liverpool. Overlooked for much of the 20th century, it was recognised as a valid extinct species by the IUCN Red List only in 2008. It may have been native to an island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean, and it has been suggested that a bird referred to as titi by Tahitian islanders was this bird. In 2014, a genetic study confirmed it as a distinct species related to the Nicobar pigeon, and showed that the two were the closest relatives of the extinct dodo and Rodrigues solitaire.

Sarah Stone, later known as Sarah Smith, was a British natural history illustrator and painter. Her works included many studies of specimens brought back to England from expeditions in Australia and the Pacific. Her illustrations are amongst the first studies of many species and are as scientifically significant.

<i>The Death of Captain James Cook</i> (Zoffany) Painting by Johann Zoffany

The Death of Captain James Cook, 14 February 1779 is an oil-on-canvas painting by the German British artist Johann Zoffany. The painting, which records the loss of the British explorer Captain James Cook, was made in around 1794 or 1795, some years after the death of Cook in Hawaii in 1779. Other paintings of the death of Cook were painted earlier. The Mahiole that was included in the painting of Cook's death by Zoffany is said to be the helmet given to Cook when he first landed in Hawaii.

The north Melanesian cuckooshrike is a species of bird in the cuckooshrike family. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago. It is considered by some ornithologists to be a subspecies of Coracina caledonica. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfriars Rotunda</span> Building in Southwark, London

The Blackfriars Rotunda was a building in Southwark, near the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge across the River Thames in London, that existed from 1787 to 1958 in various forms. It initially housed the collection of the Leverian Museum after it had been disposed of by lottery. For a period it was home to the Surrey Institution. In the early 1830s it notoriously was the centre for the activities of the Rotunda radicals. Its subsequent existence was long but less remarkable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maghreb lark</span> Species of bird

The Maghreb lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found in the Maghreb desert of north-western Africa.

References

  1. ↑ Kaeppler, Adrienne L.(2011). Holophusicon: The Leverian Museum – An Eighteenth-Century English Institution of Science, Curiosity, and Art. Altenstadt, ZKF Publishers.
  2. ↑ Chapter 14, The Royal Toxophilite Society Archived 25 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine , By Colonel Walrond, part of The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes: Archery (1894)
  3. ↑ Catton, Charles (1788). Animals drawn from Nature and engraved in aqua-tinta (1st ed.). I. & J. Taylor. p. 72.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Survey of London: volumes 33 and 34: St Anne Soho (1966), pp. 441-72, from British History Online
  5. ↑ Abstract of a Petition of Sir Ashton Lever for a Bill to enable him to dispose of his museum. Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 History of the Empire Theatre (built on the site of Leicester House). Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Bell, Alan. "Duncan, Philip Bury". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8229.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. ↑ British Museum Enlightenment: The Birth of Archaeology, Silver 'thistle' brooch. Archived 13 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Leverian Museum (London, England) (1790). A companion to the museum, (late Sir Ashton Lever's): removed to Albion Street, the Surry end of Black Friars Bridge . Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Museum Leverianum containing select specimens from the museum of Sir Ashton Lever (1792-1796).
  11. ↑ Royal Academy of Arts, Philip Reinagle, R.A. 1749 - 1833. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Musei Leveriani explicatio, anglica et latina (1792).
  13. ↑ Australian Museum, Sarah Stone Collection.
  14. ↑ A short history of insects, (extracted from works of credit) designed as an introduction to the study of that branch of natural history, and as a pocket companion to those who visit the Leverian Museum.; WorldCat ref.
  15. ↑ Christa Knellwolf King, Frankenstein's Science: experimentation and discovery in Romantic culture, 1780-1830 (2008), p. 173; Google Books.
  16. ↑ J. A. Bartle, Differences between British and French Organization of Zoological Exploration in the Pacific 1793–1840, Tuatara: Vol. 32, April 1993.
  17. ↑ Torrens, H. S. "Parkinson, James (bap. 1730, d. 1813), land agent and museum proprietor". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21370.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  18. ↑ The Ibis, Series 3, Volume 3, Osbert Salvin, 1873, accessed 29 August 2010
  19. ↑ A collection of drawings by Sarah Stone
  20. ↑ Palma, R.L. 1991. Two bird lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) collected during Captain Cook's 2nd voyage around the world. Archives of Natural History, London, 18 (2): 237-247; PDF at p. 244.
  21. ↑ RCS page, List Of Specimens Purchased By The Royal College Of Surgeons At The Sale Of The Leverian Museum In 1806.
  22. ↑ "History of the Cuming family collection and the Cuming Museum". Southwark Collections. Borough of Southwark. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014.
  23. ↑ "Parkinson, James (1730?-1813)"  . Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  24. ↑ Largen, M. J. (1987). "Bird specimens purchased by Lord Stanley at the sale of the Leverian Museum in 1806, including those still extant in the collections of the Liverpool Museum". Archives of Natural History. 14 (3): 265–288. doi:10.3366/anh.1987.14.3.265.
  25. ↑ Largen, M. J. (1987). "Bird specimens purchased by Lord Stanley at the sale of the Leverian Museum in 1806, including those still extant in the collections of the Liverpool Museum". Archives of Natural History. 14 (3): 265–288. doi:10.3366/anh.1987.14.3.265.
  26. ↑ "What's a type? A guide to type specimens". National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  27. ↑ "The five new bird species...that weren't". National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  28. ↑ Bauernfiend, Ernst (17 September 2004). "Bird specimens from the Leverian Museum: documentation and present holdings at the NMW" (PDF). Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  29. ↑ "Leverian Museum". British Museum Website. British Museum. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.