Our grant of £224,450 has helped to safeguard the Buckland Archive, which was at risk of dispersal by a sale on the open market.
William Buckland (1784–1856) was a hugely influential figure in academia, politics, science and religion. He was the first person to name and describe a fossil dinosaur (Megalosaurus), and his research laid the foundations of palaeoecology – the study of ecosystems across time. Buckland’s wife Mary (née Morland) (1797–1857) was also a highly respected fossil collector, palaeontologist and scientific illustrator.
Oxford University Museum of Natural History has acquired the collection of over 1,000 Buckland items including letters, notebooks, family papers, prints and artworks, that represent both William and Mary. These will enrich the Museum’s existing Buckland archive and add significantly to the understanding of the Bucklands’ life and work.
Evidence from the archive provides detailed insight into the thinking and institutions of the early-19th-century, a time when science and theology often gave different explanations for natural phenomena. The archive also includes original artworks, including a rare, coloured version of the lithograph based on Henry de la Beche’s drawing ‘Duria Antiquior’ – the first pictorial representation of a scene of prehistoric life based on fossil evidence – and a rare portrait of Buckland in the field.