Utopia's garden : French natural history from Old Regime to Revolution / E.C. Spary.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spary, E. C. (Emma C.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (France)--History--18th century.

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (France).

Natural history--France--History--18th century.

Natural history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (339 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The royal Parisian botanical garden, the Jardin du Roi, was a jewel in the crown of the French Old Regime, praised by both rulers and scientific practitioners. Yet unlike many such institutions, the Jardin not only survived the French Revolution but by 1800 had become the world's leading public establishment of natural history: the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. E. C. Spary traces the scientific, administrative, and political strategies that enabled the foundation of the Muséum, arguing that agriculture and animal breeding rank alongside classification and collections in explaining why natural history was important for French rulers. But the Muséum's success was also a consequence of its employees' Revolutionary rhetoric: by displaying the natural order, they suggested, the institution could assist in fashioning a self-educating, self-policing Republican people. Natural history was presented as an indispensable source of national prosperity and individual virtue. Spary's fascinating account opens a new chapter in the history of France, science, and the Enlightenment.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter One. The Place of Histoire naturelle at the Jardin du Roi

Chapter Two. Acting at a Distance: André Thouin and the Function of Botanical Networks

Chapter Three. Naturalizing the Tree of Liberty: Generation, Degeneration, and Regeneration in the Jardin du Roi

Chapter Four. Patronage, Community, and Power: Strategies of Self-Presentation in New Regimes

Chapter Five. The Spectacle of Nature: The Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle and the Jacobins

Conclusion: Possible Futures

Appendix. Holders of Scientific Posts at the Jardin du Roi/Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, 1750-1793

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-310).

ISBN:

9786613058591

9781283058599

1283058596

9780226768700

0226768708

OCLC:

699509718