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Ashmolean Museum opens its doors May 24, 2683

The Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University opened its doors to the public on May 24, 1683.

Created from a collection donated by wealthy antiquary Elias Ashmole, the museum was Britain’s first public museum, and the world’s first university museum.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford – Union Jack Flag

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford – Union Jack Flag
Part of the extensive 2016 United Kingdom : Universal Mail set

When Ashmole gifted this collection to the University, it was combined with an older University collection, which included Guy Fawkes’s lantern and Jacob’s Coat of Many Colours (long since lost). The original Ashmolean Museum opened on Broad Street in 1683, in the building that is now the History of Science Museum. Members of the public were admitted to the Ashmolean Museum from the outset (a controversial policy in the 17th century). Alongside the collection, this building was designed to house a chemistry laboratory and rooms for undergraduate lectures.

During the 18th century, an audit of the Ashmolean collections revealed the extent of decay and loss of original specimens. Most notably, the Tradescant’s famous dodo was in such an advanced state of decay it was considered beyond redemption and removed from display (today the head and one foot survive in the University Museum of Natural History).
HISTORY OF THE ASHMOLEAN | Ashmolean Museum

 
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