Slides from eight drawer wooden chest

Lantern slides from an eight drawer lantern slide wooden box found at Edinburgh Zoo. The slides have been rehoused, but have been kept in original order.

On first investigation, the slides may have referred to lantern slide lectures which Thomas Gillespie gave, at request, at venues around Edinburgh to engage the public with natural history. However, based on further research, the majority of the slides originally belonged to James Ritchie (1882-1958). Ritchie was a Scottish naturalist who held the position of Keeper of Natural History at the Royal Scottish Museum (now the National Museum of Scotland) and Professor of National History at the University of Edinburgh.

Indications of the slides belonging to James Ritchie is the majority of the slides being marked with J.R. Some of the images, particularly those that relate to hydriods, are from the Royal Scottish Museum's collection.

The slides that have not been marked with J.R. are mainly of other zoological collections and Edinburgh Zoo. These may have been added to Ritchie's collection at a later date.