Book ID: 21064
Desmond, Ray
The India Museum 1801-1879.L.1982.34 (4 col.) plates 215 p. gr8vo. Bound.
An Oriental Respository is established/ Formative years/ Horsfield in control/ Expansion of natural history collections/ Royle and international exhibitions/ Move to Fife House/Reporter on the Products of India/ More international exhibitions/ Archeology, photography and publications/ Search for a permanent home/ Imperial Museum for India and the Colonies/ A strange affair/ Dispersal/ Epilogue/ Appendix: List of India Museum publications/ Index.
From the preface: The India Museum first came to my attention through an interest in natural history. I knew that it had madefrequent gifts of herbarium specimens to the British Museum, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and the Linnean society; I had also often admired the splendid drawings of plants by artists which it once possesed, many of which are now in the library of Kew Gardens. When I entered the world of Oriental studies I encountered from time to time brief and somewhat enigmatic references to the India Museum but nowhere could I find any comprehensive account of its genesis, development and demise.