Description
Book SynopsisNature and Culture asks how objects were collected and displayed in the twentieth century. It explores natural and cultural objects in the Manchester Museum, a major university collection. How did these specimens come to be there? What happened to them in the collection, and who used them? -- .
Table of ContentsList of figures
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction: museum historiographies
I. Museums and disciplines
II. The lives of objects
Notes
1. Prologue: the Manchester Natural History Society
I. The Museum on Peter Street
II. Visitors and staff
III. Transfer and dissolution
Notes
2. Nature: scientific disciplines in the museum
I. Unified nature 1887–1910
II. Expanding collections 1910–50
III. Nature dislocated 1950–90
IV. Conclusion: cultural cartography and the Museum
Notes
3. Culture: artefacts and disciplinary formation
I. Culture precipitated 1890–1927
II. Nature and culture distinguished 1927–69
III. Culture consolidated 1969–90
IV. Conclusion: shaping disciplines
Notes
4. Acquisition: collecting networks and the museum
I. Foundation and empire
II. The economy of donation
III. Value for money?
IV. The museum and the field
V. Transfers and loans
VI. Conclusion: the politics of acquisition
Notes
5. Practice: technique and the lives of objects in the collection
I. Preparing and conserving
II. Recording and cataloguing
III. Storing and displaying
IV. Conclusion: towards a history of museum practice
6. Visitors: audiences and objects
I. Organising the visitor
II. Educating the visitor
III. Town and gown
IV. Involving the visitor
V. The visitor experience
VI. Conclusion: expanding the history of museums
Notes
Conclusion: the museum in the twentieth century
Notes
List of Archives
Bibliography
