New candidate for oldest classroom periodic table emerges in Russia

An image showing the new candidate for oldest classroom periodic table

Source: © Eugen Kalinin/St Petersburg State University

Hand painted table commissioned by Mendeleev dates back to 1876

Earlier this year we reported on what was thought to be the world’s oldest classroom periodic table, a poster discovered in a storage basement at the University of St Andrews that was purchased in 1888. Now, that record has been beaten by a hand painted version, thought to have been commissioned by Mendeleev himself, displayed in a lecture theatre in the chemistry building of St Petersburg State University in Russia.