The co-ordinates given are for the main
entrance to the Natural History Museum in Kensington, London. The replica is in
the Central area in the museum's Green Zone. Non-flash photography is permitted.
The museum is free to visit.
The plaque, made from bronze, has been
beaten out from behind to give profiles of both Frederick Godman and Osbert
Salvin. At the top of the plaque is a wreath-like arrangement that carries a map
of Central America in the middle. Around the edge of the map is the wording
'Biologica Centrali Americana'. Beneath and to the left is the profile
of Osbert Salvin and opposite is the profile of Frderick Godman. Beneath each
profile, respectively, is 'O.S. 1835-1898' and 'F.D.C.
1834-1919'.
Between the profiles of the two men is
the inscription that reads:
To Commemorate
the
services
to Natural Science
and to the Museum
of
Frederick Ducane
Godman D.C.L. F.R.S.
and
Osbert Salvin F.R.S.
This tablet is placed
here by
some of their friends and admirers
Wikipedia (visit link) tells us about
Osbert Salvin:
"Osbert Salvin FRS (25 February
1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English naturalist, best known for co-authoring
Biologia Centrali-Americana (1879–1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman. This was a
52 volume encyclopedia on the natural history of Central
America.
Born in Finchley, Salvin was the
second son of Anthony Salvin, architect, of Hawksfold, Sussex. He was educated
at Westminster and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, taking his degree in 1857.[1]
Shortly afterwards he accompanied his second cousin by marriage, Henry Baker
Tristram, in a natural history exploration of Tunisia and eastern Algeria. Their
account of this trip was published in The Ibis in 1859 and 1860. In the autumn
of 1857 he made the first of several visits to Guatemala, returning there with
Godman in 1861. It was during this journey that the Biologia Centrali-Americana
was planned.
In 1871 he became editor of The
Ibis. He was appointed to the Strickland Curatorship in the University of
Cambridge, and produced his Catalogue of the Strickland Collection. He was one
of the original members of the British Ornithologists' Union. He produced the
volumes on the Trochilidae and the Procellariidae in the Catalogue of Birds in
the British Museum. One of his last works was the completion of Lord Lilford's
Coloured Figures of British Birds (1897).
Salvin was a Fellow of the Royal
Society, the Linnean, Zoological and Entomological Societies, and at the time of
his death was Secretary of the B.O.U..
The Godman-Salvin Medal, a
prestigious award of the British Ornithologists' Union, is named after him and
Godman."
Wikipedia (visit link) also
tells us about Frederick Ducane Godman:
"Frederick DuCane Godman D.C.L.,
F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.G.S., F.E.S., F.Z.S., M.R.I., F.R.H.S., M.B.O.U. (15
January 1834 – 19 February 1919) was an English lepidopterist, entomologist and
ornithologist.
Godman is best known for
co-authoring Biologia Centrali-Americana (1879–1915) with Osbert Salvin. This is
a 63 volume encyclopedia on the natural history of Central America. His other
works included The Natural History of the Azores (1870) and a Monograph of the
Petrels (1907–10).
Godman was the third son of Joseph
Godman, of Park Hatch, Surrey and was educated at Eton College and Trinity
College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he became acquainted with Alfred Newton and
Salvin. The custom of these ornithological friends to meet and talk over their
recent acquisitions led to the foundation of the British Ornithologists' Union
(BOU) in November 1857. Godman was Secretary of the BOU from 1870 to 1882 and
from 1889 and 1897, and President from 1896. A partner in Whitbread & Co.,
Godman inherited an ample fortune which allowed him to travel the
world.
In 1883, Godman went on to become
the developer of South Lodge, a neo-Jacobean style country house estate in
Sussex."