Things of the Past (Elements in Historical Theory and Practice) - Softcover

Eskildsen, Kasper Risbjerg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1009342959 ISBN 13: 9781009342957

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2025

Synopsis

This Element explores the yearning for things of the past, from early modern antiquarianism to the contemporary art market. It tells a global story about scholars who, driven by this yearning, roamed the world and amassed many of its historical artefacts. Their motivation was not just pleasure or profit. They longed for a past that had been lost and strived to reconstruct world history anew. This rewriting of history unleashed heated debates, all over the world and raging for centuries. The debates concerned not only the past but also the present and the future. Many believed that, by revealing a strange and foreign past, the material remains opened a path to modernity. So, the Element investigates not only the history of historical scholarship, and its obsession with things, but also our relationship to the past as modern human beings.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009342959
• ISBN 13: 9781009342957
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 92