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As the British and French empires expanded, constructing new imperial dimensions through growing commerce and the relationships of industrialisation, the bases of Spanish power were being undermined. Nationalism, revolt, the pursuit of forms of decolonisation (often aided by Spain's rivals) became the prime characteristic of Central and South American politics. This book examines the study of natural history in the Spanish empire in the years 1750-1850, explaining how the Spanish authorities collected specimens for the
, a disappointment it avenged by dousing the unfortunate shop with water. 4 Sadly the elephant expired at a relatively young age in December 1777. The animal’s premature demise did not, however, signal the end of its celebrity, for its stuffed torso was promptly installed in the newly founded Real Gabinete de Historia Natural in Madrid ( figure 1 ). The Memorial Literario
Real Jardín Botánico and the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural bore impressive visual testimony to vast overseas dominions and efficient collecting mechanisms, moving several commentators to equate these botanical and zoological treasures explicitly with Spain’s imperial grandeur. The French ambassador, Jean-François Bourgoing, for instance, visiting the botanical garden in the 1790s, interpreted the
chemistry and what pedagogic techniques were employed by the authors of popular works of natural history to communicate their subject to a non-expert readership? Focusing particularly on the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural and the literature relating to it, the chapter looks at the media that existed for the diffusion of the natural sciences and at the places where ordinary Spaniards could learn about the natural
On 30 December 1775, King Charles III of Spain visited the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural in the company of his brother, Prince Luís. The Real Gabinete, the latest addition to Madrid’s intellectual landscape, was not due to open formally until 4 November 1776. 1 The King was granted a privileged preview of the institution, in the establishment of which he had been instrumental
’s scientific renaissance. These were the Real Jardín Botánico and the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural. Both of these establishments flourished in the 1770s. They operated as key sites for the collection of specimens, the advancement of knowledge and the exhibition of imperial power. The Real Jardín Botánico was first founded in 1755, during the reign of Philip VI. In 1774, as royal interest in the
, Plate 16 Emblematic of this approach were the zoological illustrations in Juan Bautista Bru’s Colección de Láminas que Representan los Animales y Monstruos del Real Gabinete de Historia Natural de Madrid (1784–86), which featured a selection of animals from the Real Gabinete. Introducing the work, Bru announced explicitly that he had