Title & Author:

Enlightenment : discovering the world in the eighteenth century / edited by Kim Sloan, with Andrew Burnett.

Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Books, ©2003.

Description:

304 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Notes:
"The book is published to coincide with the opening in 2003 of the Enlightenment Gallery in the newly restored King's Library at the British Museum."--Title page verso
Published in association with the British Museum Press.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 278-299) and index.
Part I: The 'Universal Museum'. 'Aimed at universality and belonging to the nation': the Enlightenment and the British Museum / Kim Sloan ; Collectors and commemoration: portrait sculpture and paintings in the British Museum / Aileen Dawson ; 'Most curious, splendid and useful': the King's Library of George III / Graham Jefcoate ; The King's Library and its architectural genesis / Tim Knox ; Ancient glory and modern learning: the sculpture-decorated library / Thorsten Opper -- Part II: The natural world. Challenging the dogma: classifying and describing the natural world / Robert Huxley ; Natural history collectors and their collections: 'simpling macaronis' and instruments of empire / Robert Huxley ; The nature of the earth and the fossil debate / Jill Cook ; Rocks, fossils and the emergence of palaeontology / Jill Cook -- Part III: The artificial world. The ordering of the artificial world: collecting, classification and progress / Luke Syson ; 'The king loves medals': the study of coins in Europe and Britain / Andrew Burnett ; Engraved gems: the lost art of antiquity / Judy Rudoe ; Words and pictures: Greek vases and their classification / Lucilla Burn ; Between antiquarianism and experiment: Hans Sloane, George III and collecting science / Silke Ackermann and Jane Wess ; King George III's topographical collection: a Georgian view of Britain and the world / Peter Barber -- Part IV: Ancient civilizations: new interpretations. Ideas of antiquity: classical and other ancient civilizations in the age of Enlightenment / Ian Jenkins ; The discovery of British antiquity / Jill Cook ; From Persepolis to Babylon and Ninevah: the rediscovery of the ancient Near East / St. John Simpson ; 'The curse of Babel': the Enlightenment and the study of writing / Clive Cheesman ; Sacred history?: The difficult subject of religion / Jonathan Williams -- Part V: Voyages of discovery. Venture to the exterior / Brian Durrans ; Romancing the Americas: public expeditions and private research c. 1778-1827 / J.C.H. King ; Irresistible objects: collecting in the Pacific and Australia in the reign of George III / Jennifer Newell ; Trade and learning: the European 'discovery' of the East / Joe Cribb, Jessica Harrison-Hall and Tim Clark ; Africa: in the shadow of the Enlightenment / Nigel Barley.

Summary:

The extraordinary companion to the British Museum's 250th anniversary exhibition. Opened in 1753 as the world's first public museum, the British Museum epitomized the Age of Enlightenment's dream of a rational universe. Indeed, in many ways the museum was the age's most potent instrument: the incarnation of a world that could be parsed, classified, and comprehended through the physical observation of objects, all in the name of reason, progress, and civic improvement. In this lavishly illustrated volume, published to coincide with a new permanent exhibit, the museum's centrality to the Enlightenment enterprise is explored through the stunning breadth and variety of its early collections. From painting and sculpture to scientific instruments to fossils, the incredible objects displayed in these pages testify to the museum's devotion to discovering and learning about the natural world, the past, and other civilizations. The story of how these global collections were amassed is brilliantly told and includes many accounts of the legendary collectors and expeditions that have made the British Museum one of the world's premier museums. ... Publisher description.

ISBN:

158834164X
9781588341648

Subject:

British Museum.
British Museum Histoire.
Enlightenment.
Intellectual life 18th century History.
Enlightenment Great Britain.
Siècle des Lumières Grande-Bretagne.
Collectionneurs Grande-Bretagne Histoire 18e siècle.
Siècle des Lumières.
Vie intellectuelle 18e siècle Histoire.
Enlightenment (18th-century western movement)
Intellectual life
Europe Intellectual life 18th century History.
Great Britain Intellectual life 18th century.
Grande-Bretagne Vie intellectuelle 18e siècle.
Europe Vie intellectuelle 18e siècle Histoire.
Great Britain
Europe

Form/genre:

History

Added entries:

Sloan, Kim.
Burnett, Andrew (Andrew M.)
British Museum.

Discovering the world in the eighteenth century

Holdings:

Location: Library main 231669
Call No.: CB411 .E54 2003
Status: Available