jedgar
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 73
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jedgar on Sept 18, 2016 1:36:42 GMT
Here's a composite of the top and underside of the tag on the O. alexandrae, male. The handwriting on the underside of this tag closely resembles the handwriting on several of the other tags under birdwings in this case. It isn't Mr. May's handwriting.
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Post by nomad on Sept 18, 2016 7:56:32 GMT
Thanks for sharing your beautiful images of your superb " Bred Meek alexandrae ". There is no doubt in my mind that your specimen was set by Meek at his collecting table during 1907. I look forward to seeing other images of your specimens. I wonder what you find in your Delias boxes. If you cannot put a name to the specimens, there are plenty here who can. .
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jedgar
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 73
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jedgar on Jan 3, 2017 23:33:00 GMT
It has been a few months since I've had time to post on this forum. since returning to Florida most of what I've done is inventory, sell collectibles (not my insects of course), pack stuff and prep for a move back to Colorado this spring. As time permits I will post info on other birdwings in the May Natural History Museum collection that gave every indication of having been collected and mounted by A.S Meek. In the meantime, I found some of my late father's pictures he took in London, Sept, 1964 in Janson & Sons Natural History shop that was at 44 Great Russell St. The images show Mr. Janson, his desk, my mom, my sister and I with Mr. Janson who is showing us some incredible specimens he had. They also show Mr. Janson with the mounted pair of O. alexandrae he had in his shop, both mounted/collected/harvested by A.S. Meek. Here's the story and, hopefully, functional links. Happy New Year! Jim I turned 14 in London, England in Sept. of 1964. Using the Tube (London's Underground Transport) I found it was possible to easily move about the whole city. Only I wasn't all that interested in the whole city, mostly the British Museum. I spent hours wandering around the museum's cavernous halls and enjoyed every learning moment. It was on my first visit to the British Museum that I spotted Janson & Sons, Dealers in Natural History. The shop was at 44 Great Russell St., almost directly across from the main entrance to the British Museum so it was hard to miss noticing. Seeing butterflies in cases in the windows needless to say I had to go in and see what all was in there. With common interests in Lepidoptera it wasn't long before the owner, Mr. D.B. Janson, and I struck up a friendship. I'll never forget him showing me the incredible pair of Ornithoptera alexandrae in his shop. I knew well how rare this species was. I had never seen one before except in a book and the real specimens were more beautiful that I had imagined. Of course I related my exciting find and the story of Mr. Janson's amazing specimens to my parents when I returned to our flat. On a subsequent visit to Janson & Sons and the British Museum the rest of my family went along and papa took some photos. Here are a few of the black and white photos from that day. I'm still looking for the color shots. www.grafixnpix.com/insects/64_9-21-96.jpgwww.grafixnpix.com/insects/64_9-22-96.jpgwww.grafixnpix.com/insects/64_9-23-96.jpgwww.grafixnpix.com/insects/64_9-24-96.jpgwww.grafixnpix.com/insects/64_9-26-96.jpgwww.grafixnpix.com/insects/64_9-28-96.jpg
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Post by nomad on Jan 4, 2017 17:52:03 GMT
Interesting images and memories. I never knew the Janson family were in the natural history business as late as that. Out of interest what was the price of the Meek O. alexandrae pair.
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jedgar
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 73
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jedgar on Jan 4, 2017 18:39:49 GMT
Interesting images and memories. I never knew the Janson family were in the natural history business as late as that. Out of interest what was the price of the Meek O. alexandrae pair. I seem to recall a price of 350. English pounds. What I mainly recall was wishing I could afford to buy them.
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Post by timmsyrj on Jan 4, 2017 19:56:06 GMT
My parents moved into the house they still live in today, a brand spanking new 3 bed detached at the end of a quiet close, in 1965, the cost, 7 pairs of O.alexandrae (£2,450) today recently valued at around 180K, I'm sure they would have been happier with a two bed semi and this pair could have been bought for my birthday in 1967. For £500 extra they could have added a garage and 4th bedroom but couldn't afford it.
I for one can only look at photo's of these things.
Rich
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Post by nomad on Jan 5, 2017 18:21:00 GMT
Interesting images and memories. I never knew the Janson family were in the natural history business as late as that. Out of interest what was the price of the Meek O. alexandrae pair. I seem to recall a price of 350. English pounds. What I mainly recall was wishing I could afford to buy them. Yes, quite lot of money even then, around £5,000 in today's money. Not bad though, a licensed A.S Meek pair would easy double that and be quite a bit more. However, what really counts is the history behind those specimens and not the monetary value.
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 6, 2017 14:10:03 GMT
For better readibility of the forum, I have moved the posts related to the May Museum in this new dedicated topic. jedgar, please put your pictures of the May Museum here instead of the topic "Beautiful things" Thanks a lot.
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jedgar
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 73
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jedgar on Jan 7, 2017 2:51:51 GMT
For better readibility of the forum, I have moved the posts related to the May Museum in this new dedicated topic. jedgar , please put your pictures of the May Museum here instead of the topic "Beautiful things" Thanks a lot. I'll do exactly that. My apologies for adding to your work load.
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Post by janson on Apr 13, 2017 17:48:07 GMT
Interesting images and memories. I never knew the Janson family were in the natural history business as late as that. Out of interest what was the price of the Meek O. alexandrae pair. I seem to recall a price of 350. English pounds. What I mainly recall was wishing I could afford to buy them. Good afternoon jedgar & nomad, I was very interested to read the thread regarding Janson & Sons. My late father continued to run the family business until 2000 when he closed that particular chapter of the Janson family history. I do recall him relating the story of the young man who stumbled across the office at 44 Great Russell Street while on a visit to the British Museum. Kind regards Roger Janson
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Post by nomad on Apr 13, 2017 18:45:32 GMT
Hello Roger.
Welcome here, that is a nice personal comment. I wonder if there are any historic images of the Janson premises. It would be great to see some. Do you know when your fathers company was founded.
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jedgar
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 73
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jedgar on Apr 13, 2017 22:51:24 GMT
I seem to recall a price of 350. English pounds. What I mainly recall was wishing I could afford to buy them. Good afternoon jedgar & nomad, I was very interested to read the thread regarding Janson & Sons. My late father continued to run the family business until 2000 when he closed that particular chapter of the Janson family history. I do recall him relating the story of the young man who stumbled across the office at 44 Great Russell Street while on a visit to the British Museum. Kind regards Roger Janson Hello Roger Janson. My memories of visiting your family's business and your dad at 44 Great Russell St. are some my favorites from that trip in 1964. In a post I made to this forum under the May Museum back in January there are links to six B&W photos my dad took in your family shop in 1964. I'm pretty sure that there are some color slides my dad took in the shop, I just haven't found them yet. When I do I will link/post them on this forum. Very Best Regards, Jim
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