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Museum collecting policies in modern science and technology
Publications Digest
the finest music collections in the world.’ Harsh words, but the establishment of a national register or list to identify historic musical instruments of national and international importance, together with a national acquisitions strategy, is an important step in the right direction, and it is understood that the Museums and Galleries Commission has accepted the recommendation that it initiates the production of a Standards of Care fey Musical Instrukents as part of its series of standards on collection care. 1993.3.18.1 Museum Collecting Policies in Modern Science and Technology, with introduction by Thomas Wright. 244 X 185 mm, 52pp. Lon-
don, Science Museum, 1991, f8.90 (ISBN 0 901805 378). Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD, UK. Proceedings of a seminar held at the Science Museum, London, 3 November 1988, this volume consists of an ‘Introduction’, by Thomas Wright, and the full texts of the five short papers presented, together with Robert Fox’s ‘Summary of the papers and discussions’, and each followed by an edited report of the discussion, prepared by Francesca Riccini. The ‘Introduction’ summarizes the problems to be addressed by the one-day seminar which was arranged by the Science Museum to review the problems faced by science and technology museums in collecting contemporary artefacts which mark the progress of science and technology since 1960, while David Lowenthal, in ‘Science museum collecting’, tackles the intellectual basis for the collecting of technological artefacts, and Doron Swade (‘Napoleon’s waistcoat button: modern artefacts and museum culture’) examines what is meant by ‘new’ in this context. Turning to specific experience, Patrick Green (‘Modern collecting policy: the Manchester experience’) and Otto Mayr (‘Museum collections and the ‘new technologies’: the case of the Deutsches Museum’) set out substantially different approaches which reflect their differing traditions and institutional priorities. These have to be read together with Roger Knight’s contribution (‘Modern science and technology within a broader collections policy’)
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which tries to represent the generality of museums which do approach their subject and content only from a scientific or technological point of view, but with particular reference to the policies adopted by the National Maritime Museum. In his ‘Summary of the papers and discussions’, Robert Fox seemed almost disappointed that the overwhelming majority of the seminar participants shared reverence for objects and could see no fundamental distinction between recent objects and past objects, so that historic objects were generally seen both to have a continuing role and to deserve respect.
1993.3.22.1 The Cave and Handling of Art Objects: Practices in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
by Marjorie Shelley, revised edition. 228 lSOmm, x + 102 pp., illustrated in black white. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, US$7.95 (ISBN 87099 318 6). Distributed by Harry Abrams, Inc., New York, USA.
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First published in 1987, Marjorie Shelley’s handbook has drawn on both the practical traditions of careful object handling in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the more recent specific concerns for conservation, and this revised edition has been updated by the addition of new conservation findings and product information incorporated into the ‘Selected glossary’. Priced at only US$7.95, and extremely easy to read, this handbook will hopefully be used widely as a basic manual by museums of all sizes which have codified not their handling practices independently.
1993.3.23.1 The Genesis of the Art Museum in the 18th Century, edited by Per Bjurstrom. 216 X 178 mm, 132 pp., with black & white illustrations. Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, 1993 (ISBN 91 7100 447 5). During recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the history of art collecting and the origins of art museums, and the major symposium held in Oxford in 1983
the finest music collections in the world.’ Harsh words, but the establishment of a national register or list to identify historic musical instruments of national and international importance, together with a national acquisitions strategy, is an important step in the right direction, and it is understood that the Museums and Galleries Commission has accepted the recommendation that it initiates the production of a Standards of Care fey Musical Instrukents as part of its series of standards on collection care. 1993.3.18.1 Museum Collecting Policies in Modern Science and Technology, with introduction by Thomas Wright. 244 X 185 mm, 52pp. Lon-
don, Science Museum, 1991, f8.90 (ISBN 0 901805 378). Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD, UK. Proceedings of a seminar held at the Science Museum, London, 3 November 1988, this volume consists of an ‘Introduction’, by Thomas Wright, and the full texts of the five short papers presented, together with Robert Fox’s ‘Summary of the papers and discussions’, and each followed by an edited report of the discussion, prepared by Francesca Riccini. The ‘Introduction’ summarizes the problems to be addressed by the one-day seminar which was arranged by the Science Museum to review the problems faced by science and technology museums in collecting contemporary artefacts which mark the progress of science and technology since 1960, while David Lowenthal, in ‘Science museum collecting’, tackles the intellectual basis for the collecting of technological artefacts, and Doron Swade (‘Napoleon’s waistcoat button: modern artefacts and museum culture’) examines what is meant by ‘new’ in this context. Turning to specific experience, Patrick Green (‘Modern collecting policy: the Manchester experience’) and Otto Mayr (‘Museum collections and the ‘new technologies’: the case of the Deutsches Museum’) set out substantially different approaches which reflect their differing traditions and institutional priorities. These have to be read together with Roger Knight’s contribution (‘Modern science and technology within a broader collections policy’)
329
which tries to represent the generality of museums which do approach their subject and content only from a scientific or technological point of view, but with particular reference to the policies adopted by the National Maritime Museum. In his ‘Summary of the papers and discussions’, Robert Fox seemed almost disappointed that the overwhelming majority of the seminar participants shared reverence for objects and could see no fundamental distinction between recent objects and past objects, so that historic objects were generally seen both to have a continuing role and to deserve respect.
1993.3.22.1 The Cave and Handling of Art Objects: Practices in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
by Marjorie Shelley, revised edition. 228 lSOmm, x + 102 pp., illustrated in black white. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, US$7.95 (ISBN 87099 318 6). Distributed by Harry Abrams, Inc., New York, USA.
X & 0 N
First published in 1987, Marjorie Shelley’s handbook has drawn on both the practical traditions of careful object handling in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the more recent specific concerns for conservation, and this revised edition has been updated by the addition of new conservation findings and product information incorporated into the ‘Selected glossary’. Priced at only US$7.95, and extremely easy to read, this handbook will hopefully be used widely as a basic manual by museums of all sizes which have codified not their handling practices independently.
1993.3.23.1 The Genesis of the Art Museum in the 18th Century, edited by Per Bjurstrom. 216 X 178 mm, 132 pp., with black & white illustrations. Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, 1993 (ISBN 91 7100 447 5). During recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the history of art collecting and the origins of art museums, and the major symposium held in Oxford in 1983