Elephants, education and entertainment: Travelling menageries in nineteenth-century Britain

Cowie, Helen

doi:10.1093/jhc/fhr037

Cited by 6 publications

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“…Desde hace varios años, los historiadores de la ciencia vienen señalando las potencialidades analíticas de los nodos de encuentro y circulación del conocimiento. Lugares en apariencia poco convencionales para la actividad científica, tales como los "pubs" ingleses (Secord, 1994), las casas de peletería o de subasta de productos marítimos, o los espectáculos de fieras (Cowie, 2013(Cowie, , 2014 de principios del siglo XIX, se transformaron, a partir de este enfoque, en espacios donde se entrecruzaban las culturas oral y letrada, la experiencia de los artesanos o los cazadores de animales, las prácticas de la historia natural y las tradiciones más diversas. Asimismo, como señala Heloisa Barbuy (2016) en el caso de las exposiciones itinerantes de animales salvajes, su estudio permite ampliar la comprensión sobre la cultura de la exhibición.…”

Section: Las Colecciones Y Clasificaciones De Los Lobos Marinos Austrunclassified

Entre el mercado, el espetáculo y el Museo:

García¹

2018

M&I

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Este trabajo examina las interacciones entre ciencia, espacios y agentes comerciales, focalizando en la circulación y estudio de ciertos animales marinos que por siglos fueron objetos de explotación comercial, exhibiciones y debates científicos por su clasificación. El análisis de las prácticas de naturalistas, marinos y organizadores de espectáculos entre me diados del siglo XVIII y del siglo XIX apunta a colaborar con esa historia y a discutir cómo se modelaron las representaciones sobre las criaturas que habitaban el espacio marino.

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Section: Las Colecciones Y Clasificaciones De Los Lobos Marinos Austrunclassified

Entre el mercado, el espetáculo y el Museo:

García¹

2018

M&I

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“…36 Menageries had grown in size and prominence at the end of the eighteenth century, the travelling variety catering to a wider demographic than zoological gardens because of their mobility and accessibility, and thus they were not inconsequential sites for mass zoological education, particularly outside London. 37 Constrictor snakes were almost mandatory denizens and encounters with them were amongst the most memorable experiences of a visit. Keepers enlivened displays by handling and draping them around themselves like scarves, whilst lecturing on origins and wild behaviour.…”

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Encountering snakes in early Victorian London: The first reptile house at the Zoological Gardens

Hall

2015

Hist Sci

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This paper examines the first reptile house (opened in 1849) at the Zoological Gardens in London as a novel site for the production and consumption of knowledge about snakes, stressing the significance of architectural and material limitations on both snakes and humans. Snakes were both familiar and ambiguous, present at every level of British society through the reading of Scripture, and as recurrent characters in imperial print culture. For all that snakes engendered feelings of disgust as the most distinctive representatives of a lowly class of animals, they exerted an equivalent fascination over diverse publics spanning the social spectrum. Building on work showing a consideration for the multi-sensory nature of visits to menageries, this paper considers animal display and spectacle beyond the visual. It explores the emotional economy of encountering snakes in person and the bodily phenomena this engendered. Vicarious visits were offered up to readers of periodicals and newspapers, and the reptile house was harnessed as a controversial pedagogical resource for teaching moral, as well as scientific, lessons.

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A “delightful resort for persons of all ages, and more especially for the young”: Children at Bristol Zoo Gardens, 1835–1940

Maddeaux¹

2014

hcy

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Bristol Zoo Gardens has provided a leisure space for people of all ages since it first opened to the public on July 11, 1836. Changes in that space over time reflect the management’s evolving priorities. The story is generally one of increasing provision of activities specifically aimed at children, both for education and entertainment, particularly from the turn of the twentieth century. This has resulted in the common conception of zoos as primarily places for young visitors. Examining the experiences of children themselves shows how they have responded to this provision and how they have appropriated space for their own enjoyment. This article contributes to the growing discipline of childhood studies by exploring the place of children in zoological gardens, using Bristol as a case study. Making the most of the very limited sources depicting children’s perspectives (an essay and postcards written by children) in combination with sources created by adults (minute books, correspondence, guidebooks, and newspaper articles), the article makes some preliminary observations about the extent of children’s agency in the Zoo and about how children’s experiences have differed from the expectations of their seniors in providing a space for children to enjoy.

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Elephants, education and entertainment: Travelling menageries in nineteenth-century Britain

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Entre el mercado, el espetáculo y el Museo:

Entre el mercado, el espetáculo y el Museo:

Encountering snakes in early Victorian London: The first reptile house at the Zoological Gardens

A “delightful resort for persons of all ages, and more especially for the young”: Children at Bristol Zoo Gardens, 1835–1940

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