THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 
BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
RECORD 
Vou. III ; July, 1914 No. 3 
A RARE BOOK BY TRADESCANT 
In the January, 1914, number of the Recorp, was recorded the 
gift, by Mr. Alfred T. White, of a copy of the “ Musaewm Trades- 
cantianum: or, a Collection of Rarities. Preserved at South- 
Lambeth neer London by John Tradescant. London, Printed by 
John Grismond, and are to be sold by Nathanael Brooke at the 
Angel in Corniull, M.DC.LVI” 
At the time of the publication of this book, Tradescant’s 
museum was considered to be the most extensive one in Europe, 
but, on account of its poor arrangement, its scientific value was 
greatly diminished. In this respect, it was, of course, not unlike 
other contemporary collections. Murray* states that exhibits of 
that period were “often badly placed, and were nearly always 
arranged in relation to their accidental and not to their distin- 
guishing features. Things were disposed according to size, like 
pipes in an organ, and the two sides of a room had to balance, so 
that most incongruous objects were often placed alongside of each 
other.” As interpreted by Murray, this condition was a reflection 
of the fact that the scientific ideas of that time “ were too vague 
and ill-defined to lead to useful results.” The scientific and 
artistic efficiency of modern museums has been a gradual growth, 
contingent upon the development of clearer and more accurate 
scientific thinking, the advancement of learning in general, and 
upon the application to museums of the modern ideas of organiza- 
tion and administrative efficiency. 

* Museums: their history and use. Glasgow, 1904, pp. 206, 207. 
lad 
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