Sciences of antiquity : romantic antiquarianism, natural history, and knowledge work / Noah Heringman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Heringman, Noah.

Series:

Classical presences

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Illustrated books--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Illustrated books.

Scientific illustration--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Scientific illustration.

Natural history--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Natural history.

Historiography--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Historiography.

History.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Intellectual life--18th century.

Intellectual life.

Physical Description:

345 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

In the course of the eighteenth century, discoveries ranging from Tahiti to Pompeii initiated a scientific turn in the study of the past. Seeking a formal language to display these new findings, Romantic-era plate books presented a wide array of objects as ancient relics. This proliferation of antiquities, a product of old affinities between natural history and antiquarianism, provided new material for the formation of archaeology, geology, anthropology, and other modern disciplines. This title traces the production of five scholarly plate books on subjects of major literary and scientific interest at the time: South Pacific voyaging, Mount Vesuvius, ancient Greek vases, monuments in English cathedrals, and the geology of southeast England. Focusing on illustrators, fieldworkers, and ghostwriters associated with this type of scholarly publication, Heringman explores how the expertise acquired by these largely self-educated intellectuals precipitated a major shift in the way research was done - from patronage to professionalism.

Contents:

Introduction: Knowledge Work and the Proliferation of Antiquities

NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUITY

1. Beyond Patronage: Knowledge, Work, Professional Ambition, and the Competing Narratives of the Endeavour Voyage

2. Campi Phlegraei and the Neapolitan Pursuit of 'Most Remote Antiquity'

GREEK VASES AND DEEP TIME IN NAPLES

3. Baron d'Hancarville, Sir William Hamilton, and the Collaborative Production of Antiquities

4. The Natural History of Art: Customs and Manners in The Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities

5. 'The History, Written by Themselves': Ancient Religion, Deep Time, and Embedded History

ENGLAND'S RUINS

Interlude: Classical to Gothic

6. Antiquarianism and the Science of Preservation: Jacob Schnebbelie, Richard Gough, and Gothic Antiquity

7. 'The Whole of This Coast is Composed of Ruins': Thomas Webster's Fieldwork on the Isle of Wight.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-333) and index.

ISBN:

9780199556915

0199556911

OCLC:

794036033