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The British Public and the British Museum

Shaping and Sharing Knowledge in the Nineteenth Century
By Jordan Kistler
Series: Nineteenth-Century and Neo-Victorian Cultures
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Brief Description
This book is a timely intervention in the history of museums in Britain. BP's ongoing sponsorship of the British Museum, the appointment of George Osborne as a trustee, and the Museum's continued resistance to the repatriation of holdings such as the Parthenon Marbles and the Benin... Read More
Format: Hardback
$63000

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A radical reinstatement of the public in the history of the formation of the 'modern' museum.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This book is a timely intervention in the history of museums in Britain. BP's ongoing sponsorship of the British Museum, the appointment of George Osborne as a trustee, and the Museum's continued resistance to the repatriation of holdings such as the Parthenon Marbles and the Benin Bronzes have brought questions of the Museum's funding, leadership, and right to the objects in its collection to increased public attention.

The British Public and the British Museum reveals this is not a recent 'woke' agenda but rather part of a long history of public resistance and activism enacted through the British Museum. It presents a cultural history of the nineteenth-century British Museum, departing from traditional institutional histories by centring public perception of the museum's purpose and its uses in society.

Series: Nineteenth-Century and Neo-Victorian Cultures

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  • The British Public and the British Museum
    The British Public and the British Museum
    This book is a timely intervention in the history of museums in Britain. BP's ongoing sponsorship of the British Museum, the appointment of George Osborne as a trustee, and the Museum's continued resistance to the repatriation of holdings such as the Parthenon Marbles and the Benin Bronzes have brought questions of the Museum's funding, leadership, and right to the objects...
    By Jordan Kistler
    Hardback
    $63000
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781399523752

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 31 May 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Edinburgh University Press

Illustration: 10 black and white images

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 320

Collections

Arts & Culture Jordan Kistler Non-Fiction Series: Nineteenth-Century and Neo-Victorian Cultures

About the Author

Jordan Kistler is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Strathclyde, working in the fields of literature and science and museum studies. Her works focuses on the intersections between science and the arts, particularly within museum spaces. Her research advocates for the application of literary criticism to museums, pioneering a new critical approach to exhibition studies, and has been published in world-leading interdisciplinary journals like Museum & Society and Configurations (official publication of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts). Her first monograph, Arthur O'Shaughnessy: A Pre-Raphaelite Poet in the British Museum (2016) examined the intersections between art and science in the poetry of one naturalist working in the British Museum.

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