Tempels der Natuur

Het Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art en het Natural History Museum van Londen in de negentiende eeuw

Samenvatting

The first museums that opened their doors in the nineteenth cen­tury were not just meant as a spectacle for their visitors. The di­rectors of these museums had a clear vision in mind of the goals they wanted to pursue by showing their collections to the public. Museums like the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art and the Natural History Museum in London wished to educate their visi­tors by displaying their objects in a carefully planned way. In this article I will examine the intent and purpose behind the collec­tions of these two these museums and how these goals differed from each other. To add context to the objectives of the Edin­burgh Museum of Science and Art and the Natural History Muse­um, these museums will be compared to the context of nineteenth century society.