Book Description
In late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe a new phenomenon was developing: learned gentlemen who had perfected their gardens and libraries were setting about the business of creating the first collections. The Origins of Museums is an extensive account of the 'cabinet of curiosities' or 'Wunderkammer' and explains how such cabinets gave rise to the beginnings of museums as we know them and of four centuries of collecting. The intellectual curiosity of the age encompassed interest in the natural world, peoples of antiquity and the discovery of the New World. Renaissance learning saw the emergence of naturalists such as Ulisse Aldrovandi and Conrad Gesner. Products of antiquity such as Roman and Egyptian artefacts were amassed by collectors. The discovery of the New World saw a huge flow of exotic and rare exhibits arrive from Africa, South-East Asia and the Far East. Such discoveries revolutionized the European view of the wider world and of more local phenomena. An awareness of European natural history developed. These new and varied perspectives were given concrete expression in the cabinet. Scholars from around the world here describe, in thirty-three papers, the achievements of numerous significant collectors and the range of material collected. They draw comparisons of their aims, methods, sources of acquisition and displays. With a comprehensive bibliography, the papers provide a basis for the study of this fascinating period of collecting history, a hitherto neglected subject. AUTHBIO: Dr Oliver Impey and Dr Arthur MacGregor are both Senior Assistant Keepers in the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford.
About the Author
Oliver Impey and Arthur Macgregor are both assistant keepers at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology , Oxford.
Founded in1683 the Ashmolean is one of the oldest museums in the world and is part of the University of Oxford.
