Sciences of Antiquity: Romantic Antiquarianism, Natural History, and Knowledge Work (Classical Presences)

In the course of the eighteenth century, discoveries ranging from Tahiti to Pompeii initiated a scientific turn in the study of the past. Seeking a formal language to display these new findings, Romantic-era plate books presented a wide array of objects as ancient relics. This proliferation of antiquities, a product of old affinities between natural history and antiquarianism, provided new material for the formation of archaeology, geology, anthropology, and other modern disciplines. Sciences of Antiquity traces the production of five scholarly plate books on subjects of major literary and scientific interest at the time: South Pacific voyaging, Mount Vesuvius, ancient Greek vases, monuments in English cathedrals, and the geology of southeast England. Focusing on illustrators, fieldworkers, and ghostwriters associated with this type of scholarly publication, Heringman explores how the expertise acquired by these largely self-educated intellectuals precipitated a major shift in the way research was done - from patronage to professionalism. Their scholarship and technical skills demanded recognition, sparking conflicts over the division of labour and the role of institutions such as the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. Ambitious, collaborative plate books, such as The Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities (1776) and Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain (1799), forged a broader and deeper perception of antiquity as extending far beyond the Greco-Roman world. Cover Contents List of Figures List of Plates Abbreviations Introduction: Knowledge Work and the Proliferation of Antiquities i: Explorations of antiquity ii: Romantic antiquarianism iii: Knowledge work, or, sciences from the middle iv: Transformations of antiquity NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUITY 1. Beyond Patronage: Knowledge Work, Professional Ambition, and the Competing Narratives of the Endeavour Voyage 1.1 The natural history context 1.2 Sydney Parkinson as author 1.3 Parkinson as collector, or, the afterlife of ethnographic specimens 1.4 Antiquarianism on the Endeavour 1.5 Parkinson, Joseph Banks, and material culture 2. Campi Phlegraei and the Neapolitan Pursuit of ‘Most Remote Antiquity’ 2.1 Antiquities and natural history in Naples 2.2 Sir William Hamilton’s collaborators 2.3 Word and image in Campi Phlegraei 2.4 Pietro Fabris and the Neapolitan context 2.5 Classical sites and modern media 2.6 On the mountain: Bartolomeo Pumo and Antonio Piaggio 2.7 Emma Hamilton and Wilhelm Tischbein: knowledge work and social change GREEK VASES AND DEEP TIME IN NAPLES 3. Baron d’Hancarville, Sir William Hamilton, and the Collaborative Production of Antiquities 3.1 Antiquarian conditions of production 3.2 The fiscal logic of virtù 3.3 Designing art history 3.4 The author as producer 4. The Natural History of Art: Customs and Manners in The Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities 4.1 The shifting terrain of antiquity 4.2 Customs and manners 4.3 Domains of prehistory 5. ‘Their History, Written by Themselves’: Ancient Religion, Deep Time, and Embedded History 5.1 Virtual antiquity 5.2 Old artefacts, new histories 5.3 Art as history, myth as history 5.4 Art and ritual 5.5 Pre-classical antiquity ENGLAND’S RUINS Interlude: Classical to Gothic 6. Antiquarianism and the Science of Preservation: Jacob Schnebbelie, Richard Gough, and Gothic Antiquity 6.1 Gothic materialism 6.2 ‘A True Practical Antiquary’ 6.3 ‘Private Mixed with Public Life’ 6.4 The Antiquaries’ Museum 6.5 Epilogue: John Carter and the science of preservation 7. ‘The Whole of This Coast Is Composed of Ruins’: Thomas Webster’s Fieldwork on the Isle of Wight 7.1 Geology and antiquity 7.2 Local history, fieldwork, and collaboration 7.3 ‘A Sort of Arch or Vault’ 7.4 Knowledge work among the ruins 7.5 ‘The Language of the Antiquary’ 7.6 Geological conclusions Conclusion Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W In the course of the eighteenth century, discoveries ranging from Tahiti to Pompeii initiated a scientific turn in the study of the past. Seeking a formal language to display these new findings, Romantic-era plate books presented a wide array of objects as ancient relics. This proliferation of antiquities, a product of old affinities between natural history and antiquarianism, provided new material for the formation of archaeology, geology, anthropology, and other modern disciplines. traces the production of five scholarly plate books on subjects of major literary and scientific interest at the time: South Pacific voyaging, Mount Vesuvius, ancient Greek vases, monuments in English cathedrals, and the geology of southeast England. Focusing on illustrators, fieldworkers, and ghostwriters associated with this type of scholarly publication, Heringman explores how the expertise acquired by these largely self-educated intellectuals precipitated a major shift in the way research was done - from patronage to professionalism. Their scholarship and technical skills demanded recognition, sparking conflicts over the division of labour and the role of institutions such as the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. Ambitious, collaborative plate books, such as (1776) and __Great Britain__ Heringman focuses on the illustrators, fieldworkers, and ghostwriters associated with the production of scholarly plate books during the Romantic-era. The volume explores how the expertise acquired by these intellectuals precipitated a major shift in research and forged a broader perception of antiquity, transforming intellectual life.