Whales as a Nordic speciality

Collecting cetaceans for Natural History Museums (1860s–1910s)

Forfattere

  • Alexandre Simon-Ekeland Volda University College
  • Lene Liebe Delsett University of Oslo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/nm.11591

Sammendrag

Whales are not specifically Nordic animals, but Nordic whales have been central in European natural history collections since the second half of the nineteenth century; this article analyses how this came to be. Several factors came into play: the interest in whales among many researchers and curators working in natural history museums, the development of modern whaling from the 1860s, and the development of networks of exchange and sale of scientific specimens. We study these three factors through the traces they have left in the museums’ catalogues, in archives, and in the collections themselves and argue that, individually, these factors would not have had such a big impact. It is their combination in this period that has given Nordic whales such a central place in natural history collections.

Forfatterbiografier

Alexandre Simon-Ekeland, Volda University College

Associate Professor

Lene Liebe Delsett, University of Oslo

Researcher
Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History
Natural History Museum

Nedlastinger

Publisert

2024-07-08