Russia’s First Scientific Systematic Petrographic Collection: Foundation and Development

Abstract The permanent exhibit “Systematic collection of igneous rocksˮ (which is put on display in nine showcases) in the Ore and Petrographic Museum corresponds to the principal guidelines formulated by the Interdepartmental Petrographic Committee. The specialized Registration Journal (Catalogue) “Peter the Great Geological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Systematic Petrographic Collection” was started at the museum in 1912, with records on the most valuable petrographic rock samples entered in it. The requirements for the reference samples and collections of the museum were strictly regulated by proprietary instructions of the museum. Its collection currently consists of 750 samples representing 147 types of igneous rocks from around the world.