Choudhury, Mita

English

Purdue E-Pubs

Purdue UniversityPurdue e-PubsLibrary Scholars Grant Program Purdue Libraries4-15-2014The British Museum and the Cultural Logic ofMuseologyMita ChoudhuryPurdue University - Calumet Campus, choudhur@calumet.purdue.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/lsgThis document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact epubs@purdue.edu foradditional information.Choudhury, Mita, "The British Museum and the Cultural Logic of Museology" (2014). Library Scholars Grant Program. Paper 11.http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/lsg/11The British Museum and the Cultural Logic of MuseologyLibrary Scholars Grant 2013 ReportMita Choudhury (choudhur@purdue.edu) Purdue University CalumetApril 15, 2014Title of Book-Length Project: Nation-Space in Britain, 1660-1800: Vision, Narration, PerformanceThe LSG provided partial support for archival work at the British Museum, conducted in two segments (in March and July), for the following chapter:“The Cultural Logic of Museology and the Idea of the British Museum”12/11/2014 2Research Supported by the LSG 2013 • Montagu House was built by Ralph Montagu in 1686;• House owned by Montagu family till early 18th C;• By the early 1740s the house was empty and in disrepair;• Montagu House was purchased in 1754 to house the first “British” museum, established by British Museum Act of 1753.12/11/2014 3Museum History circa 1740The Origins of Building and Space• In 1725 Henry Flitcroft (1697-1769) was asked to draw up a plan for Montagu House when it was still owned by the Montagus;• Subsequently, Flitcroft Plans used for upgrading the museum space under the supervision of chief surveyor, Henry Keene, appointed in 1754;• In 1755 these Keene Plans presented to the Trustees of the British Museum.12/11/2014 4A Page from the Flitcroft Plan, 172512/11/2014 5Collectors: Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753),Robert Harley (1661-1724) &Others“Initially there was a tripartite division of the collections: (1) Printed Books (including prints); (2) Manuscripts (including medals); (3) Natural and Artificial Productions (everything else).”****** The separation of books, manuscripts, and natural objects was to come much later.12/11/2014 6Order of Collections: Zoological, Vegetable, and Print• Dr. Gowan Knight, first Principal Librarian of the British Museum Library (1756-1772):“All the articles . . . may be properly classed in the three general divisions of Fossils, Vegetables, and Animals. Of these the fossils . . . may properly be disposed in the first Rank. Next to them the Vegetables, & lastly the Animal substances.” • Harleian Collection of Manuscripts: 80,000 vols. 12/11/2014 7Globalizing Space: Premise of the StudyThe philosophy which seeks to universalize and to globalize through the space of the museum both artistic endeavors (work associated with generating or developing, building or creating art works and educational or aesthetic products) and aesthetic judgment (the critiques of such works) overlaps with the philosophy of civilizing missions.12/11/2014 8Purpose of Studying Order and SpaceThe purpose of the British Museum chapter is to (a) Describe how the eighteenth-century British Museum manifests its modernity through “artful” juxtapositions of creative and intellectual works and artifacts as well as specimens of natural history and to(b) Consider how and why this modernity stages the choreographed interplay of space and objects and celebrates its alliance with or knowledge of various other cultures.12/11/2014 9The Idea of Social Space“Social space contains a great diversity of objects, both natural and social, including the networks and pathways which facilitate the exchange of material things and information. Such ‘objects’ are thus not only things but also relations. As objects, they possess discernible peculiarities, contour and form. Social labo[u]r transforms them, rearranging their positions within spacio-temporal configurations without necessarily affecting their materiality, their natural state.” Henry LeFebvre, The Production of Space.12/11/2014 10Archival Documents of ImportancePlans and (handwritten) Manuscripts:• Plans: The Revised floor plans based upon the Flitcroft Plans and designed by Henry Keene are uncatalogued and preserved (fairly intact) in a large black box, BM archives.• MSS: The Minutes of the British Museum Board of Trustees meetings and the Minutes of the Standing Committees, leather-bound and in very good condition.12/11/2014 11A Typical Page from the Minutes12/11/2014 12Some Pertinent Manuscripts• British Museum Statutes and Rules 1756, BM Add MS 42852.• Committee (Minutes of the Committee Meetings).• General Meeting, (Minutes of the British Museum Board of Trustees), mostly volumes I & II.• Original Letters and Papers, Volume I: 1743-1784.• Papers Relating to the British Museum, Birch Collection, Add MS 4449 (British Library).12/11/2014 13My Space @ the British Museum!12/11/2014 14

The British Museum and the Cultural Logic of Museology

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&amp;context=lsg

The British Museum and the Cultural Logic of Museology

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Purdue E-Pubs