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Put most simply, John Thackray's guide to The Natural History Museum's official archive is a volume that will be regularly consulted by those of us fascinated by the history of natural history and the world's best known repository of scientific specimens. The book provides an introduction to the papers, drawings, photographs and other media generated as a result of the work of the museum, and which have been passed into the care of the Archivist. These materials - kept separately from the collections of drawings and manuscripts housed in the NHM's libraries - are described in nine separate sub-groups, and in addition to the archives of the scientific departments (Zoology, Entomology, Geology (later Palaeontology), Mineralogy and Botany) include reference to Trustees papers, those associated with the Director's Office, the so-called 'Unofficial Archive' and the Zoological Museum at Tring. Each of these sub-groups has a brief introduction, providing an insight into the history of the section, its organisation and its key personalities - so for example the section on the Director's Office notes the changes in the responsibilities of the post and gives a lists of the Directors and their dates of office. Each subgroup is described using the archivist's standard hierarchy of terms, being divided into "class titles" and "items" - the individual volumes, files or folders. As one would expect, John Thackray was as thorough, thoughtful and precise when compiling this volume as he was in all his work for the Society. The index, which includes personal, institutional and ship names, is especially useful.
Guides such as this have every chance of being dull and lifeless, mere catalogues of names and documents. However - and as everyone who knew John would expect - this one is not like that. John's sense of humour and his pleasure in bringing the archives to life seep out of the pages in a number of subtle ways. He clearly enjoyed the file relating to the continuing dispute about the museum's northern boundary (p. 15), and gleefully notes the removal, via the main entrance of the museum, of an elephant 1927 - "it became stuck in the doorway and was only extricated after a long struggle". The choice of photographs also bears the Thackray stamp - Richard Owen wearing the beginnings of a smile (p. 13), museum staff about to board a horse-drawn carriage for a (no doubt) riotous day out, Maurice Burton, wide-eyed and enthusiastic, describing mammals, surrounded by schoolchildren. Through these photographs the reader picks up not only the broad sweep of the roles played by The Natural History Museum, but also gets a strong impression that to John Thackray the people (both staff and visitors) associated with it were as important and intriguing as its scientific achievements.
This guide refers to the archives deposited up until 1975, and in the future all manner of different media will doubtless find their way into the collections, a continuing record of the work of The Natural History Museum. As John notes "that, as they say. is another story". It is desperately sad that he will unable to tell it for us.
– Peter Davis
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