A unique resource on the history of natural history collecting
Established since 2006 - Online since 2010
The main mission of the privately funded Tricottet Collection is the preservation of historic natural history items. By this term, we refer to objects relating to the field of natural history, which are associated with individuals, institutions or events in history.
The purpose of the Tricottet Collection is threefold:
• To PRESERVE and CATALOG historic natural history specimens, especially minerals, fossils, shells and meteorites.
• To PRESERVE and ARCHIVE original documents relating to natural history collecting.
• To RESEARCH and EDUCATE on the subject of natural history collecting through history.
The Galleries display a selection of rare and aesthetic natual history specimens, held by the Tricottet Collection. At the present time, only the Meteorite and Tektite Galleries are accessible. Every specimen once sojourned in one or several collections of historical importance, from museums or from influential individuals.
Special Collections are groups of objects that originate from a same estate and can be considered as stand-alone collections. A mission of the Tricottet Collection is to protect these collections of being broken up, to preserve the history of the original collection.
The Tricottet Collection at a glance! Catalogues, updated periodically, serve as inventories which record the main characteristics and the historical provenance of each specimen held by the Tricottet Collection.
The Tricottet Collection comprises two separate libraries, the Library of Natural History (in construction) and the Library of Meteoritics, which is composed of hundreds of volumes, including rare antiquarian books, catalogs, inscribed books, newspaper clippings and original manuscripts.
Archives of the Tricottet Collection form a unique resource on the history of natural history collecting. They include a biographical archive, a label archive, a manuscript & correspondence archive and a photograph archive.
We are continuously looking to expanding and diversifying the Tricottet Collection through donations, purchases or trades. Please contact us for further details.
Historical investigations - Identifying and preserving the past of natural history specimens is the main mission of the Tricottet Collection. Such a detective work is challenging when only fragmentary and cryptic information are available. Each specimen in collection remains an open case until the full chain-of-custody is known, from its discovery to the last major collection where it sojourned.
Field investigations by the Tricottet Collection. Section not yet available.
Publications by the Tricottet Collection - Find in the November issue of Meteorite magazine (vol. 17, no. 4) the article by A. Mignan Claims of Indigenous Life Forms in Meteorites: A Short Review, pp. 34-38. This paper will be made available online in March 2012.
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