Perhaps uniquely in the history of the Natural History Museum, Ruskin was granted permission to organise and arrange a display in the Mineral Gallery of “A Series of Specimens in the British Museum (Natural History) Illustrative of the More Common Forms of Native Silica.” Completed in April of 1884, and supported by a printed catalogue describing the specimens in Ruskin’s own words and available for sale in the Gallery, the exhibit remained on display for forty years. As part of the background research for the book much time and effort was expended in tracing as many of the specimens from the exhibit as could be identified.

Unfortunately, no photograph of the display case or its contents appears to have survived, and it seems probable that no-one alive today would have seen the exhibit. I am delighted therefore to be able to present here a virtual recreation of the exhibit, in the form of an ‘illustrated’ version of Ruskin’s catalogue.

I hope that you will enjoy exploring the specimens selected by Ruskin and take some time to enjoy his descriptive text.