Possessing nature : museums, collecting, and scientific culture in early modern Italy / Paula Findlen.

By:

Findlen, Paula

Material type: Text

TextBerkeley : University of California Press, 1994Description: xvii, 449 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmISBN:

9780520205086

Subject(s):

Summary: In 1500 few Europeans considered nature an object worthy of study, yet within fifty years the first museums of natural history had appeared, chiefly in Italy. Vast collections of natural curiosities - including living human dwarves, "toad-stones," and unicorn horns - were gathered by Italian patricians as a means of knowing their world. The museums built around these collections became the center of a scientific culture that over the next century and a half served as a microcosm of Italian society and as the crossroads where the old and new sciences met.

Holdings ( 1 )
Title notes ( 2 )

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Book	State Botanical Collection	RBG	069.50945 POS (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		RBG00026062

In 1500 few Europeans considered nature an object worthy of study, yet within fifty years the first museums of natural history had appeared, chiefly in Italy. Vast collections of natural curiosities - including living human dwarves, "toad-stones," and unicorn horns - were gathered by Italian patricians as a means of knowing their world. The museums built around these collections became the center of a scientific culture that over the next century and a half served as a microcosm of Italian society and as the crossroads where the old and new sciences met.

RBG copy donated by Paul Fox, December 2023.