Mobile objects: the space of shells in eighteenth-century France

Dietz, Bettina (2006): Mobile objects: the space of shells in eighteenth-century France. In: The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 39, No. 3: pp. 363-382

Abstract

The frequent distinction made between scientific and purely amateur collections misrepresents the specificity of the field of eighteenth-century natural history. This paper argues that the extent and the boundaries of a scientific field can be determined only within the framework of concrete historical constellations of institutions, protagonists, practices and objects. By tracing the circulation of shells in eighteenth-century France, Paris in particular, between about 1735 and 1780, it becomes evident which individuals or groups actually came into contact with these shells ; in what practices of collecting, describing and classification they were involved; and in what spaces they were displayed. Thus the contours of a constellation emerge which differ considerably from those drawn hitherto.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Faculties: History and Art History > Department of Art History > Theatre Studies
• Subjects: 500 Science > 500 Science
• ISSN: 0007-0874
• Alliance/National Licence: This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
• Language: English