The Interior of the Museum, Dunedin.

Scarce c.19th hand coloured engraved view of the interior of the Otago Museum by William Crothers Fitler (1857-1915).

The museum grew out of a suggestion, in the early 1860s, that colonial, gold-rich Otago should publicly exhibit a representative collection of its diverse rocks. When Provincial Geologist James Hector’s collection of 5,000 rocks and minerals went on display at the trade-promoting New Zealand Exhibition in Dunedin in 1865, the Provincial Government of Otago decided to act on the suggestion, by then enlarged to envision a museum of natural history.

References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 9829g.
Hughes-d’Aeth, T. Paper Nation : The Story of the Picturesque Atlas of Australia. Melbourne 2001 :.

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 1654251
National Gallery Australia: LEGACY ID 34588
Royal Collection Trust UK: RCIN 1046852
Getty Museum Los Angeles: Object name: 1218593
State Library New South Wales: RECORD IDENTIFIER 74VvDRQZXzWd
State Library Victoria: CCF 919.4 G19