Unpacking a(nother) voyage round the world

Abstract

This article studies the history of the specimen collection formed by the Franco-Prussian naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso (1781–1838), particularly its assembly during the Russian-led Rurik expedition (1815–18) and its subsequent donation to the museums of Berlin University. It examines three inventories which emerged in the process of transferring objects from an individual collector to an institutional collection, and which demonstrate how transformations in the textual documentation of the collection shaped the objects’ perceived significance. Paying attention to the people who generated collection documents, as well as the intended audiences and the purposes for which they were written, the article argues, is a crucial prerequisite for analysing the history, movements and meaning of collections and collected objects.