Natural History Trading with Tūhura Otago Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand, c1860-1890s.

During the late nineteenth century, Dunedin's Tūhura Otago Museum played a significant role in the global trade of natural history specimens. How the early curators filled the new museum, established in 1868, is investigated. Purchases, exchanges and donations were accepted into the collections. The range of acceptable specimens were guided by curatorial desires, by what was offered, and importantly by limited funds. Details on the prices paid are revealed which adds to the literature on the history of the museum. Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton FRS (1835-1905), Thomas Jeffery Parker FRS (1850-1897), and William Blaxland Benham FRS (1806-1950), the first three curators, used their worldwide networks of friends, colleagues, and collectors, and worked hard to ensure they received specimens of equal value as New Zealand's unique fauna, specifically moa bones, that they traded. Furthermore, the article highlights the pragmatic economics behind natural history transactions during colonial New Zealand's early museum-building era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]