Tales from the museum
Dry Storeroom No. 1
By Richard Fortey, HarperCollins, 338 pp.
In Dry Storeroom No. 1, Richard Fortey calls his book the natural history of the Natural History Museum. His basis is that all our lives are collections curated through memory. We pick up and store recollections and facts, and the sum total of that archive makes us who we are.
Fortey takes the reader through a series of moments spanning years, which culminate in discoveries hugely important to the scientific community but unnoticed by the public.
He lightens with such things as: the inside story on hoaxes such as Piltdown Man – believed to be the link between apes and humans (1908-1913); the Koh-i-noor diamond and its fabled curse; chronology of the Rothschild family where Walter bequeathed his natural history collection, including taxidermied domesticated dogs, while brother Charles donated his collection of fleas, complete with taxonomic information; and the Curator of the Museum who is responsible for the collection of lice.
His career at the Natural History Museum in London has afforded relationships with and casual meetings of famous players in the scientific world, and these conversations are a large part of the book. Fortey takes the reader to the darkened corners, to the towers and through seldom-opened doors.
The book serves as a prime example that what is mundane to some is exciting to others. The meticulous-minded reader will enjoy being immersed in the orderly world of museum work.
Cheryl Bragg is executive director of the Anniston Museum Complex.
