The Spectacle de la Nature in Eighteenth-Century Spain: From French Households to Spanish Workshops

Producció científica: Contribució a revistaArticleRecercaAvaluat per experts

4 Cites (Scopus)

Resum

This paper analyzes the Spanish appropriation of one of the great French eighteenth-century best-sellers, the Spectacle de la Nature (1732--1750) by the abbé Antoine Nöel Pluche. In eight volumes, the abbé discussed current issues in natural philosophy, such as Newtonianism, the origin of fossils, artisan techniques, natural history, machines, gardening or insect-collection in a polite-conversation format. It was translated into English (1735), Dutch (1737), Italian (1737), German (1746) and Spanish (1753). But the four Spanish editions were very different from their European counterparts. In Spain, it was delivered in 16 carefully printed and extensively commented volumes. In Pluche's original, there was a concern for the young gentleman's education, new pedagogical methods and an enthusiastic defence of experimental knowledge. However, Le Spectacle in Spain was conceived as a useful tool for modernizing the country, it served political and propagandist goals, defended Spanish culture and science (in particular with respect to American flora, fauna and geography) and the Jesuit contribution to science and aimed to harmonize experimental knowledge and scholastic tradition. The analysis of the more than 1500 footnotes, prefaces, some readers’ comments and other questions related to the format gives insight on how it was appropriated
Idioma originalAnglès
Pàgines (de-a)257-282
Nombre de pàgines6
RevistaAnnals of Science
Volum69
Número2
DOIs
Estat de la publicacióPublicada - d’abr. 2012

Fingerprint

Navegar pels temes de recerca de 'The Spectacle de la Nature in Eighteenth-Century Spain: From French Households to Spanish Workshops'. Junts formen un fingerprint únic.

Com citar-ho