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Elias Ashmole
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<p>Elias Ashmole <a href="/facts/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society/cWs8TdC5">FRS</a> (23 May 1617 – 18 May 1692) was an English <a href="/facts/Antiquary/dCTDy9DX">antiquary</a>, politician, <a href="/facts/Officer_of_arms/R48eQPb7">officer of arms</a>, <a href="/facts/Astrology/kFP09KjH">astrologer</a>, <a href="/facts/Freemasonry/zgLC9973">freemason</a> and student of <a href="/facts/Alchemy/CEx0U1Em">alchemy</a>. Ashmole supported the <a href="/facts/Cavalier/JTXvr32Y">royalist</a> side during the <a href="/facts/English_Civil_War/lKXK3YXx">English Civil War</a>, and at the <a href="/facts/Stuart_Restoration/xdp8JnEc">restoration</a> of <a href="/facts/Charles_II_of_England/Acc7cFtF">Charles II</a> he was rewarded with several lucrative offices. </p><p>Ashmole was an antiquary with a strong <a href="/facts/Baconian_method/jT4whRp0">Baconian</a> leaning towards the study of nature. His library reflected his intellectual outlook, including works on English history, law, <a href="/facts/Numismatics/gJDe3Lr5">numismatics</a>, <a href="/facts/Chorography/6ezF5lGt">chorography</a>, alchemy, astrology, astronomy and botany. Although he was one of the founding <a href="/facts/Fellow/DLThQbkq">Fellows</a> of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society/KI5yXCuV">Royal Society</a>, a key institution in the development of experimental science, his interests were antiquarian and mystical as well as scientific. He was an early <a href="/facts/Freemasonry/zgLC9973">freemason</a>, although the extent of his involvement and commitment is unclear. Throughout his life he was an avid collector of curiosities and other artefacts. Many of these he acquired from the traveller, botanist and collector <a href="/facts/John_Tradescant_the_Younger/GTDJ3bxm">John Tradescant the Younger</a>. Ashmole donated most of his collection, his antiquarian library and priceless <a href="/facts/Manuscript/A6XNmrTd">manuscripts</a> to the <a href="/facts/University_of_Oxford/ExVVQL6V">University of Oxford</a> to create the <a href="/facts/Ashmolean_Museum/zRl83sQY">Ashmolean Museum</a>, Britain's first public museum. </p>