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Instruments and relics: The history and use of the Royal Society's object collections c. 1850-1950

Higgitt, Rebekah (2019) Instruments and relics: The history and use of the Royal Society's object collections c. 1850-1950. Journal of the History of Collections, 31 (3). pp. 469-485. ISSN 0954-6650. E-ISSN 1477-8564. (doi:10.1093/jhc/fhy038) (KAR id:69053)

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Abstract

Despite the age and prestige of the Royal Society of London, the history of its collections of scientific instruments and apparatus has largely been one of accidental accumulation and neglect. This article tracks their movements and the processes by which objects came to be recognised as possessing value beyond reuse or sale. From at least mid-century, the few surviving objects with links to the Society’s early history and its most illustrious Fellows came to be termed ‘relics’, were treated with suitable reverence, put on display and made part of the Society’s public self-presentation. If the more quotidian objects survived into the later 19th century, when their potential as objects for collection, research, display, reproduction and loan began to be appreciated, they are likely to have survived to the present day.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1093/jhc/fhy038
Subjects: D History General and Old World
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Depositing User: Rebekah Higgitt
Date Deposited: 11 Sep 2018 14:22 UTC
Last Modified: 09 Dec 2022 06:25 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/69053 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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