Z dziejów Gabinetu Zoologicznego. Historyczne eksponaty kręgowców w zbiorach Muzeum i Instytutu Zoologii PAN Część 2

Iwan, Dariusz (1961– ); Cegliński, Arkadiusz; Kowalski, Hubert; Mierzwa-Szymkowiak, Dominika

doi:ISSN 0076-6372

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Title: Z dziejów Gabinetu Zoologicznego. Historyczne eksponaty kręgowców w zbiorach Muzeum i Instytutu Zoologii PAN Część 2

Abstract:

The thirteenth volume of the new Memorabilia Zoologica series contains the final part of the results of research inquiries concerning historical vertebrate specimens preserved at the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (MIZ PAS). The inquiries concerned collections of bird skins and accompanying archival documentation from the years 1818–1919. The analyzed specimens originate from the Zoological Cabinet of the Royal University of Warsaw and from the Count Branicki Museum in Warsaw, which were merged in 1919 into the National Museum of Natural History – Zoological Department, now the MIZ PAS. The collections are characterized by considerable diversity in terms of the time, place, and circumstances of their acquisition, as well as their distribution for scientific purposes both domestically and abroad. Conducting provenance research on such materials currently presents numerous challenges, given not only their complexity but also their partial loss. This also applies to documentation containing basic specimen data, namely inventories. During the period under consideration, the depletion of museum and archival holdings began when Russian scholars assumed leadership of the Zoological Cabinet of the Imperial University of Warsaw in 1890 and continued until the Russians left Warsaw in 1915. Later, these losses were compounded by the Second World War. Therefore, in the research process aimed at reconstructing nineteenth- and twentieth-century collections, it proved indispensable to consult foreign archival resources, including those in Germany, Austria, France, England, Australia, USA, and Peru. In many cases, these sources made it possible to clarify or approximate the fate of specimens once assembled in Warsaw institutions. The result of these long-term efforts is the integration of data concerning thousands of bird specimens of scientific, historical, and cultural significance. An additional strength of the research is the demonstration of an efficiently functioning international system of specimen circulation (sale, purchase, exchange), encompassing museum collections, research centers, private cabinets, and specialized companies. The operation of this system enabled museum professionals to build the prestige of their institutions by ‘completing’, studying, and making available as many specimens as possible, particularly those representing species new to science, obtained from remote and difficult-to-access regions, as well as those rarely represented in collections. The results of the inquiries conducted within the project “Reconstruction and Development of the Scientific Collections of the Zoological Cabinet of the University of Warsaw: From the 18th-Century Musaeum Polonicum to the National Museum of Natural History” [Rekonstrukcja i opracowanie zbiorów naukowych Gabinetu Zoologicznego Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Od osiemnastowiecznego Musaeum Polonicum do Narodowego Muzeum Przyrodniczego] have, in addition to the present publication, been presented ona dedicated website and made available in the form of searchable databases.