New Spaces in Natural History

Abstract

‘Natural history’ itself slowly separated into separate sub-disciplines such as physiology or palaeontology, each with their own methods, agendas, and subject-matter. At the same time, natural history began to separate from theology, especially in continental Europe, though at a slower pace than in Britain. The ‘open’ spaces of the gardens and zoo were flanked by the ‘closed’ spaces of the galleries and lecture theatres; and each sort of space carried with it a different facet of natural history practice and organization. At the height of the French revolution, in 1793, the Museum was given its own constitution, which entailed the transformation of the former royal Jardin des Plantes into a national possession, designated as a place of public resort and instruction in natural history. At a profound level, its transformation was in line with the violent transformation of France from monarchy to republic, from dynastic state to representative republican government.

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