Events in the history of the Pitt Rivers Museum that took place in 1888.
Readers are reminded that this table is a work in progress and may be amended or added to at any time.
| Month | Day | Event | Source of Information | Notes |
| January | 21 | Letter from Pitt-Rivers to Henry Balfour telling him that he feels there is no point the museum draughtsman continuing to make ddrawing as he might already be duplicating ones that have been done, and says more have been finished than were shown to Balfour during his visit to Rushmore [see 1887] | PRM ms collections PRM papers Box 1 Foundation volume | |
| January | Curators of the University Chest allotted money for 3 years for Pitt-Rivers Collection | Oxford University Gazette XVIII: 149 | ||
| January | Tylor lectures on Anthropological elucidation of Greek and Latin passages | Alison Brown pers comm. | ||
| February | ||||
| March | ||||
| April | 23 | Pitt-Rivers elected member of council of Society of Antiquaries | Athenaeum 3157 (April 28 1888) p. 537 | |
| April | No day | Tylor lectures on Races and Languages of the World | Alison Brown pers comm. | |
| May | ||||
| June | ||||
| July | No day | Marett is awarded first class degree in literae humaniores, despite fact he suffered meningitis earlier that year | DNB entry | |
| August | 3 | Henry Balfour leaves Hull for a trip to Lapland with Alfred Heneage Cocks | Frances Larson pers comm; Balfour diary PRM ms collections | NB Tylors also in Norway in 1888 |
| August | 6 | Balfour in Trondheim | Frances Larson pers comm; Balfour diary PRM ms collections | |
| August | 11 | Balfour in Tromso | Frances Larson pers comm; Balfour diary PRM ms collections | |
| August | 15 | Balfour in Vardo | Frances Larson pers comm; Balfour diary PRM ms collections | |
| August | 29 | Cocks and Balfour travel to Pasvig River | Frances Larson pers comm; Balfour diary PRM ms collections | |
| September | 6-7 | Pitt-Rivers president of British Association for the Advancement of Science [BAAS] Section at Bath and gives address. Tylor also present at meeting | BAAS report; JAI 18 (1889): 100; The Times 22 May, 15 August, 14 September 1888; Relational Museum website; Megan Price pers comm. | |
| September | 6-7 | Pitt-Rivers and wife meet with Tylors in Bath, during BAAS meeting | University of California Tylor papers | |
| September | 8 | Balfour arrives in Elvenaes | Frances Larson pers comm; Balfour diary PRM ms collections | |
| September | 13-15 | Tylors visit Pitt-Rivers at Rushmore | University of California Tylor papers; Megan Price pers comm. | |
| October | No day | Tylor lectures on Race, Language and Civilization in Michaelmas Term | Alison Brown pers comm. | |
| October | 4 | Tylor writes to Pitt-Rivers about preparing catalogue guide of PR founding collection | Tylor to Pitt-Rivers, October 4 1888, L.541 S&SWM Pitt-Rivers papers | |
| October | 16 | Tylor as Keeper of OUMNH writes on pro-forma to Pitt-Rivers to thank him for donation of objects from Rotherley Camp | S&SWM Pitt-Rivers papers L551 | One of the last donations Pitt-Rivers makes to Oxford |
| October | 23 | Pitt-Rivers and Balfour dine with Tylors in Oxford. Pitt-Rivers visits Pitt Rivers Museum. Sometime in this month Pitt-Rivers gives his last donation to the PRM, purchasing items from OH Howarth for the museum and also donating objects from Rotherley Camp | University of California Tylor papers; Chapman 1981: Chapter 8; S&SWM L551 & 573 and accession book | |
| November | ||||
| December | ||||
| Unspecified | Upper Gallery of PRM opened to public in afternoon after work on the arrangement of specimens in wall and desk (table) cases, even though labelling still remained to be done | Relational Museum timelines/ Annual Report 1888 | ||
| Unspecified | Stone tool collections were augmented by transfer from the Geological to 'Anthropological Department' [ie from the Geological Dept at the OUMNH to the PRM] of part of the John Wickham Flower collection | Relational Museum timelines/ Annual Report 1888 | ||
| Unspecified | First Annual Report of PRM produced, published as addition to OUMNH report | PRM annual report 1888; Cousins, 1993: 10 | ||
| Unspecified | Displays worked on during the year: Ornamental and decorative art and Deformation of body, displays in Upper Gallery [prehistoric and 'savage and other' weapons]. Balfour remarks that some of the displays that have been set up are Pitt-Rivers' series and some are now, devised by him | Relational Museum timelines/ Annual Report 1888 | ||
| Unspecified | H.N. Moseley ill, Balfour deputising | Relational Museum timelines/ Annual Report 1888 | ||
| Unspecified | Staffing of the museum is Balfour plus two (unnamed) assistants | Annual Report 1888 | ||
| Unspecified | The Tylors travel to Norway | Megan Price pers comm. | NB Balfour also there in 1888 |
AP
