Ashton Lever
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Sir Ashton Lever (March 5, 1729 - January 28, 1788) was an English collector of natural objects.
Lever began by collecting seashells in about 1760, and gradually accumulated one of the richest private collections of natural objects, including live animals. He opened it to the public in April 1766, in Manchester, moving the museum to his family home at Alkrington Hall, near Rochdale, Lancashire, in 1771. In 1774, Lever moved to London, and next year his Holophusicon opened to the public in Leicester Square. Captain James Cook was so impressed by Lever's collection that he donated objects from his own voyages to the museum.
Lever continued to buy new items until he became bankrupt, at which point the collection contained 28,000 specimens. Both the British Museum and the Empress of Russia declined to buy it, so it was disposed of by lottery , 8,000 tickets being sold at a guinea each. The winner, a Mr James Parkinson (who should not be confused with the famous physician also called James Parkinson who gave his name to Parkinson's disease), put the collection up for auction in 1806, the largest purchasers being the British naturalist Edward Donovan and Leopold von Fichtel, bidding on behalf of the Imperial Museum of Vienna. Purchasers included the Earl of Derby and William Bullock, who had his own large private collection.
Lever's collection was catalogued by George Shaw.
