Journal of the History of Collections Advance Access first published online on March 13, 2007
This version published online on March 16, 2007
Journal of the History of Collections, doi:10.1093/jhc/fhm006
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
The Royal Architectural Museum in the light of new documentary evidence
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Founded in 1851 by a group of architectural professionals led by George Gilbert Scott, the Royal Architectural Museum's collections were intended to form the nucleus of a National Museum of Architecture. This article examines the history of the cast museum and its collections in the light of a complete set of minute books and other unpublished material discovered within the Architectural Association (AA) Archives. It draws upon new detail regarding the formative years of the Museum in a London warehouse, through its period at the Brompton Boilers, South Kensington, to its move to Tufton Street, Westminster, and its subsequent dispersal by the AA in 1916. In addition to identifying and providing new provenance details for many of the surviving casts and original works, fresh information is given regarding the roles of key figures within the museum, including Scott, Alexander Beresford-Hope, John Ruskin, William Burges and J. P. Seddon.
Correspondence: Edward Bottoms, Architectural Association, 34-6 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES, UK. edward{at}aaschool.ac.uk