The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
‘Only meer Love to Learning’: a rediscovered travel diary of naturalist and collector James Petiver (c.1665–1718)
Secondary Title (i.e. Proceedings Title): Periodical Title:Journal of the History of Collections Publication Type:article Authors:Roos, Anna Marie Editors: Publisher: Place of Publication: Publication Date:2017 Alternate Date (i.e. Conference Date): Volume:29 Issue:3 Start Page:381 End Page:394 Abstract: Descriptors/Keywords: ISBN: URL:https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhw041Documents in Print Item: No Documents Listed in Print Item Attached People: Subject of/in a document - Petiver, James (c. 1665-Apr 1718)
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Annotation:This paper analyses a rediscovered diary compiled by James Petiver, recording a journey he made in 1691. During his two-month trip, Petiver left his home in Kendal, travelled to Yorkshire, and subsequently visited Oxford, Essex, and London to botanize and to view scientific collections. Petiver’s diary represents a nascent early modern form of scientific peregrination – ‘science on the move’ – that was prevalent in England from 1650 to 1750. Not yet formal fieldwork, not as sybaritic as the experience of the Grand Tour, scientific peregrination was a means of developing empirical expertise of naturalia in the field. My analysis of Petiver’s diary represents a form of humanistic fieldwork, giving insights into the natural history specimens, mode of travel, noted antiquities, and other evidence that allows us to reconstruct the mental world of the early modern virtuoso and scientific collector. The paper includes an online annotated edition of the diary.