Hebdomadal Council 19 January 1883

Please note that these have been transcribed and not edited, all misspellings or mis-punctations are in the original and are not sic'd. Warning: this report has not been proofread except by the transcriber

PRM Box 1, 1-33: 8-11

(For the Hebdomadal Council only)

Report to the Hebdomadal Council of the Committee of Members of Convocation appointed to consider the Offer of Major-General Pitt-Rivers, F.S.A., F.R.S., etc., of his Anthropological Collection to the University, and to advise thereon.

Present - The Regius Professor of Medicine, Professor Smith, Professor Prestwich, Professor Westwood, Professor Moseley, Mr Pelham.

The Committee having examined the Collection on several occasions, and having had its contents and purposes explained to them by Major-General Pitt-Rivers in person, are thoroughly convinced of its great importance, and, believing that its presence in Oxford could not but prove of great assistance to students in almost all branches of study, and of great value in aiding general education, strongly urge the Hebdomadal Council to take such steps as shall enable the University to become possessed of it.

Major-General Pitt-Rivers having expressed a wish that the Committee should themselves draw up the terms on which the Collection should be received from him by the University, the Committee having suggested the following, which have been ascertained to be satisfactory to him:

1. That in the event of the acceptance of the Collection the University shall build a separate annex to the present University Museum to receive the Collection.

2. That the annex shall be used solely for the Collection, and for additions to be made to it from time to time, and that an inscription designating the Collection as 'The Pitt-Rivers Collection', be affixed over the entrance to the annex, and that the title be permanently retained as that of the Collection.

3. That the general mode of arrangement at present adopted in the Collections be maintained; that no change be made in details during the lifetime of General Pitt-Rivers without his consent; and that any change in details to be made subsequently shall be such only as are necessitated by the advance of knowledge, and as do not affect the general principle originated by the donor.

4. That the University undertake from time to time to expand and complete by the addition of further specimens such of the series of objects in the Collection as are at present more or less imperfect. Such specimens will bear on their labels the names of their donors or of collections from which they may have been derived.

The Committee, having obtained the permission of the Vice-Chancellor, employed an expert recommended by the Department of Science and Art at South Kensington to prepare an estimate of the dimensions of a building suitable to the reception of the Collection. This gentleman, Mr. Gilbert R. Redgrave, having received full instructions, has drawn out a sketch plan of the structure most suitable for the purpose, and has prepared a rough estimate of the cost of the building and cases required. His report and plans accompany the present document.

The Committee has further prepared a short general account of the contents of the Collection, which has been printed for the information of members of Convocation.

[Last 2 items not transcribed, last item not included with this report but elsewhere, see here for transcription]

Transcribed by AP July 2010 as part of the Rethinking Pitt-Rivers project.