John Aubrey And The Realm Of Learning

John Aubrey and the Realm of Learning

“Though it is as a biographer that he is now most widely known, the author of Brief Lives was in his day a scientist and antiquary of note. His Monumenta Britannica was the first English book that can be called archaeological in the modern sense of the word, and at his death he left a whole series of other writings ranging from topography and natural science to education, magic and folklore. That these are so little known is perhaps largely due to the vicissitudes of their publishing history, for some of the most important have never appeared in print. This new book discusses and evaluates all Aubrey's writings, analysing the development of his ideas. It lays stress on the interrelation of Aubrey's interests in different subjects and in so doing illuminates many aspects of his biographical work as well. It also raises wider issues in seventeenth-century history, throwing new light on the survival of occult ideas in scientific circles in the period of the early Royal Society, and arguing that the origins of modern archaeology should be attributed to the influence of the scientific movement. It sifts a vast amount of research and presents it in a form both useful to the student and attractive to the learned general reader.”-Publisher.

John Aubrey and the Realm of Learning

Cabinets for the Curious

The last few years has, within museums, witnessed nothing short of a revolution. Worried that the very institution was itself in danger of becoming a dusty, forgotten, culturally irrelevant exhibit, vigorous efforts have been made to reshape the museum mission. Fearing that history was coming to be ignored by modern society, many institutions have instead marketed a de-intellectualised heritage, overly relying on computer technology to captivate a contemporary audience. The theme of this work is that we can do much to reassess the rationale that inspires contemporary collections through a study of seventeenth century museums. England's first museums were quite literally wonderful; founded that is on the disciplined application of the faculty of wonder. The type of wonder employed was not that post-Romantic idea of disbelief, but rather an active form of curiosity developed during the Renaissance, particularly by the individuals who set about gathering objects and founding museums to further their enquiries. The argument put forward in this book is that this museological practice of using objects actually to create, as well as disseminate knowledge makes just as much sense today as it did in the seventeenth century and, further, that the best way of reinvigorating contemporary museums, is to return to that form of wonder. By taking such a comparative approach, this book works both as a scholarly historical text, and as an historically informed analysis of the key issues facing today's museums. As such, it will prove essential reading both for historians of collecting and museums, and for anyone interested in the philosophies of modern museum management.