THE VALE COLLECTION

Natural History · Field Observations · Scientific Records

The Vale Collection comprises the surviving scientific records and collected materials of Edmund Alistair Vale, a British naturalist whose fieldwork in the western Caucasus extended from 1878 to 1884.

The archive contains zoological observations, botanical studies, anatomical drawings, geographical surveys, and associated correspondence. Wherever possible, individual records are presented alongside their original dates, locations, measurements, and supporting illustrations.

While much of the material reflects the established methods of nineteenth-century natural history, certain observations remain difficult to classify. In some cases, the surviving evidence is incomplete; in others, Vale himself appears to have withheld a definitive conclusion.

The collection is arranged by subject and catalogue number. Original uncertainties, conflicting annotations, and gaps in the historical record have been retained rather than resolved through speculation.

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The records are presented as they survive. Their interpretation remains open to further examination.