This volume catalogues and illustrates 860 engraved gems and finger-rings in the Ashmolean Museum, with the aim of demonstrating how the collection developed over the last 150 years or more and to identify, wherever possible the source and provenance of the items. The catalogue or inventory is preceded by a discussion of the collection, including its most distinguished piece, the beautiful Felix Gem' which can be followed through collection inventories since the 15th century. The gems are presented according to their decorative theme, including dieites and emperors, scenes from daily life, animals and birds, heroes, beasts and monsters, astrological and religious symbols and subjects, and inscriptions. Each section begins with an introductory discussion.

For more than three centuries the collections of the Ashmolean Museum have occupied a position of primary importance in the history of collecting in Great Britain and an honourable position in the development of museums on a European scale. Many collection catalogues (especially those of the natural sciences), compiled by curators over the past two or three hundred years, have never before been published. This volume - a further volume, designated Part II is to follow - starts to bring these collections to a wider audience. Their independent importance is considerable, for they provide not only a record through time of the fluctuating content of the Ashmolean but also an index of the changing preoccupations of the collectors and donors who progressively enriched the museum, of the curators who tended it, and of the wider community of scholars for whom the collections represented a fundamental resource.

Artefacts made from skeletal materials since the Roman period were, before this book, neglected as a serious area of study. This is a comprehensive account which reviews over fifty categories of artefact. The book starts with a consideration of the formation, morphology and mechanical properties of the materials and illuminates characteristics concerning working with them. Following chapters discuss the organisation of the industry and trade in such items, including the changing status of the industry over time. Archaeological evidence is combined with that from historical and ethnological sources, with many illustrations providing key visual reference. Originally published in 1985.

Artefacts made from skeletal materials since the Roman period were, before this book, neglected as a serious area of study. This is a comprehensive account which reviews over fifty categories of artefact. The book starts with a consideration of the formation, morphology and mechanical properties of the materials and illuminates characteristics concerning working with them. Following chapters discuss the organisation of the industry and trade in such items, including the changing status of the industry over time. Archaeological evidence is combined with that from historical and ethnological sources, with many illustrations providing key visual reference. Originally published in 1985.

History Today carried a feature in 2015, describing The Origin of Museums as "a cult book [that] spawned a new discipline in the history of collecting". Indeed, the first publication of this book in 1985 undoubtedly marked a propitious moment in the development of interest, in what has since grown to be a dynamic subject-area in its own right. That an appetite for such matters was already there is confirmed by the fact that the first impression sold out within a few months, a second impression a year or two later, and the third in 1989. There was to be no further printing by the original publishers, Oxford University Press. However in 2001 a new edition appeared with a new publisher. Demand again proved buoyant, but within a few months the company failed; having operated on a print-on-demand basis, it left behind it no unsold stock. The Origins of Museums reverted to a scarce (though much sought-after) volume. With original copies now selling for hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, the Ashmolean is proud to make this important volume readily available again.

Relating to the Ashmolean Museum, The Vice-Chancellors Consolidated Catalogue (1695) includes an introduction and Inventory of the Visitors catalogues, including The Book of the Vice-Chancellor; The Book of the Dean of Christ Church; The Book of the Principal of Brasenose; The Book of the Regius Professor of Medicine; Book of the Senior Proctor; and The Book of the Junior Proctor. There are also Glossaries of Latin terms used for natural specimens and Brazilian, Mexican, Nahuatl and other American Indian terms used for natural specimens in the catalogues.

Photos with descriptions and dimensions of the Migration period and Viking material in the Ashmolean. Many items come from the 19th century collecting of Sir Arthur Evans and his meticulous recording of provenances will enable these items to be fitted into their correct context on the Continent; some of his brooches can be paired with pieces now in Cologne and Berlin.

This publication comprises a complete inventory of the Ashmolean Museum's holdings of metalwork in gold, silver, copper-alloy and lead, dating from the early Anglo-Saxon period (fifth to seventh century AD). Each of almost 1,200 items (including the Amherst and Monkton composite brooches, the Ixworth cross and the Tostock buckle) is described and illustrated; chemical analyses are given for numerous examples and a full bibliography is provided. Introductory chapters survey the Museum's process of accumulation from the 1780's to the present day, and analyse it on the basis of both the personalities and the archaeological sites which have contributed to the collection.