266 pages : illustrations (black and white). ; 25 cm
Bibliographic Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index
Contents:
Circulating objects : loss and decay in the American Philosophical Society's cabinet -- Shadowed silhouettes : writing indigenous resistance in early American museums -- American claimants : overwhelming collections and visitor impressions at the British Museum -- Novel inventions : nation and spectacle in the U.S. Patent Office gallery -- Specimen collectors : preservation and classification at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology
Summary:
"Useful Objects: Museums, Science, and Literature in Nineteenth-Century America explores the debates that surrounded the development of American museums during the nineteenth century. Throughout this period, museums included a wide range of objects, from botanical and zoological specimens to antiquarian artifacts and technological models. Intended to promote "useful knowledge," these collections generated broader discussions about how objects were selected, preserved, and classified. In guidebooks and periodicals, visitors described their experiences within museum galleries and marveled at the objects they encountered. And in fiction, essays, and poems, writers embraced the imaginative possibilities represented by collections and proposed alternative systems of arrangement. These conversations spanned across spheres of American culture, raising deeper questions about how objects are valued-and who gets to decide"-- Provided by publisher