The Emergence of the Modern Museum, a unique compendium of original sources, presents a detailed and dynamic account of the development of the museum and its practices in Britain during a crucial period of formation. From poignant recollections of visits to stately homes to charged debates about the acquisition of the Elgin Marbles or the establishment of an Indian Museum; from early catalogue entries describing the curiosities discovered by Captain Cook to later ones organizing human skulls according to Darwinian principles-this volume offers a representative sample of the diverse, contentious, and often moving ideas that have shaped the modern institution. With original selections, thematic organization, and insightful critical apparatus, this collection makes newly available a wide range of material, including proposals for reform laid out in parliamentary papers, essays by influential theorists and curators, and firsthand accounts of museum-going in the popular press.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Preface
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Part One: From Collection to Museum
- 1.: Private Collections
- 2.: Towards a Public Art Collection
- 3.: . The Public in the Museum
- Part Two: Rationalizing the National Collections
- 4.: Art and the National Gallery
- 5.: . Natural History and the British Museum
- 6.: Pedagogy: South Kensington and the Provinces
- 7.: Reform and Psychology of Museum Attendance
- 8.: From Wonders to Signs: Anthropology and Archeology
- 9.: Exhibiting India
- Glossary of Frequently Cited Collectors and Collections
- Contributors and Witnesses
- Suggestions for Further Reading
- Index
