Utopia's garden : French natural history from Old Regime to Revolution / E.C. Spary.

Main entry:

Spary, E. C. (Emma C.)

Title & Author:

Utopia's garden : French natural history from Old Regime to Revolution / E.C. Spary.

Publication:

Description:

xv, 321 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-310).
The Place of Histoire naturelle at the Jardin du Roi -- Acting at a Distance: Andre Thouin and the Function of Botanical Networks -- Naturalizing the Tree of Liberty: Generation, Degeneration, and Regeneration in the Jardin du Roi -- Patronage, Community, and Power: Strategies of Self-Presentation in New Regimes -- The Spectacle of Nature: The Museum d'Histoire Naturelle and the Jacobins -- Conclusion: Possible Futures.

Summary:

The royal Parisian botanical garden, the Jardin du Roi, was a jewel in the crown of the French Old Regime, praised by both rulers and scientific practitioners. Yet unlike many such institutions, the Jardin not only survived the French Revolution but by 1800 had become the world's leading public establishment of natural history: the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. E.C. Spary traces the scientific, administrative, and political strategies that enabled the foundation of the Muséum, arguing that agriculture and animal breeding rank alongside classification and collections in explaining why natural history was important for French rulers. But the Muséum's success was also a consequence of its employees' Revolutionary rhetoric: by displaying the natural order, they suggested, the institution could assist in fashioning a self-educating, self-policing Republican people. Natural history was presented as an indispensable source of national prosperity and individual virtue. Spary's fascinating account opens a new chapter in the history of France, science, and the Enlightenment.

Resources:
Table of contents
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

0226768627 (cloth ; alk. paper)
9780226768625 (cloth ; alk. paper)
0226768635 (paper ; alk. paper)
9780226768632 (paper ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (France) History 18th century.
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (France)
Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle.
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (Paris, France) Histoire 18e siècle.
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (France) History.
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (Paris) 18e siècle.
Natural history France History 18th century.
Medicine History 18th century.
Natural History history
Museums history
History, 18th Century
Sciences naturelles France Histoire 18e siècle.
Médecine Histoire 18e siècle.
Medicine
Natural history
Utopie
Gartenkunst
Natuurlijke historie.
Natural history France History.
Sciences naturelles France 18e siècle.
France
Frankreich
Natural history France 1620-1800.
Natural history museums France Paris 1800-2000.

Form/genre:

History

Holdings:

Location: Library main 214316
Call No.: QH147 .S6 2000
Status: Available

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