http://www.metafilter.com/tags/ashmole Posts tagged with 'ashmole' at MetaFilter. Mon, 14 Mar 2005 06:30:35 -0800 Mon, 14 Mar 2005 06:30:35 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://www.metafilter.com/40405/The%2DJohn%2DTradescants <a href="http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/amulets/tradescant/tradescant00.html">"A Collection of Rarities"</a> The John Tradescants (<a href="http://www.cix.co.uk/~museumgh/tradescants.htm">Elder and Younger</a>) lived in <a href="http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Tradescants.html">London</a> in the 16th and 17th centuries. Adventurous travellers, <a href="http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/Tradescant.htm">diplomats</a>, <a href="http://www.gardenvisit.com/b/tradescant.htm">horticultural pioneers</a>, polymaths, they were also collectors, acquiring (and asking their friends to acquire) specimens of the wonders of the world. Their <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/localmuseums/story/0,11113,756754,00.html">growing collection</a> was housed in a large house -- "The Ark" -- in Lambeth, London. The Ark was <i>the</i> prototypical Cabinet of Curiosity or Wunderkammer, a collection of rare and strange objects. The Tradescant's <a href="http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/amulets/tradescant/tradescant07.html">collection</a> was eventually transferred to -- and some say it was swindled out of them by -- <a href="http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/faqs/q003/">Elias Ashmole</a>, who used it to start <a href="http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/">The Ashmolean Museum</a> in Oxford. The Tradescants are buried in <a href="http://www.cix.co.uk/~museumgh/grave.htm">St. Mary's Churchyard, Lambeth</a>, now home to the <a href="http://www.museumgardenhistory.org/">Museum of Garden History</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2005:site.40405 Mon, 14 Mar 2005 06:30:35 -0800 ashmole history museums tradescant carter