Swanseas Royal Institution and Waless First Museum

(Hardback)

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An attractive volume featuring almost three hundred illustrations including photos and maps from the Royal Institution of South Wales.

The Royal Institution of South Wales (RISW) is a very special organization. It was Wales's first-ever museum from 18411990, and one of the few such institutions to survive into the twenty-first century. Today it remains a thriving center of culture. Its original lecture theater, library, and laboratory demonstrate its early involvement in scientific research and education. Swansea's Royal Institution and Wales's First Museum is a substantial and richly illustrated book that sets the story in contextin local, national, and international termsand presents RISW as a significant contributor to the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge. It covers the growth of RISW, the notable members it attracted, later challenges it faced, and its survival in the world of today. The formation of the museum's many varied collections is described by leading specialists, including the developing sciences: geology, natural history, botany, archaeology, Egyptology and photography, the decorative arts, historical records, coins, maps, and costume.

Author Bio

Helen Hallesy is a science graduate and independent researcher on the history of the south Wales ceramic industries, focusing primarily on Swansea. She is the author of several books and articles on the subject, including, most recently, Swansea Commemorative Pottery. She is a long-standing Council member and Honorary Vice President of RISW. Gerald Gabb taught history before becoming an education officer for the Swansea Museums Service. He is a RISW Council member and editor of the Swansea History Journal Minerva since 2009. He has written extensively on the locality, most recently publishing Swansea and its History, II, The Riverside Town in 2019.