Suzanne Ryder

Making the world's oldest insect collection accessible

Natural History Museum, London

Darwin Centre II

DC II opened in 2009 housing the Entomology and Botany collections

Montagu House

The first home of the British Museum, which included Natural History.

The Waterhouse Building c1890

The Natural History Collections separated from the British Museum, Bloomsbury to move to the new

Natural History Museum in South Kensington.

Sir Hans Sloane, 1660-1753

Other Notable Historic Collections

• Alfred Russel Wallace• Charles Darwin• Sir Joseph Banks• Johann Fabricius

Sloane Insect Collection

• 18 drawers

• 3 bound volumes

James Petiver, 1665-1718

There are two bound volumes containing insect specimens

Leonard Plukenet, 1642-1706

This bound volume is the oldest know insect collection

Condition of the Plukenet volume

The fragile state of the pages has been a great concern when handling the volume

Conservation challenges

• Some damage to the spine• Pollutant build up• Specimens detached from the page

Cleaning and repairing the pages

The condition of the Petiver Volumes

• The book boards have separated

• Severe red rot• Pollutant build up

The specimens are preserved between mica sheets

The future of these bound collections• Complete the remedial conservation

• Digitise these volumes

• Make these collections virtually accessible

• Possible molecular investigations

• Possible limited physical access and display

Questions