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SUMMARY:New perspectives on the Great Exhibition - Geoffrey Cantor (Univer
 sity College London)
DTSTART:20141030T163000Z
DTEND:20141030T180000Z
UID:TALK49545@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Richard Staley
DESCRIPTION:The Great Exhibition of 1851 is widely regarded as a major pub
 lic event that has provided a common focus for scholars studying diverse a
 spects of 19th-century history. However\, despite an extensive secondary l
 iterature the meaning of the Exhibition has proved elusive and research ha
 s concentrated on a few disparate areas to the neglect of many others. In 
 gathering material for a recently-published documentary history of the Exh
 ibition I became increasingly aware of the vast range of meanings that con
 temporaries attributed to it – scientific\, technological\, social\, pol
 itical\, religious\, etc. – while historians have added further perspect
 ives. The problem of engaging the Exhibition is compounded by the extensiv
 e range of sources that it generated\, some of which have been neglected b
 y historians\; in particular commentaries in the contemporary periodical l
 iterature and the accounts written by visitors. Thus\, for example\, in co
 ntrast to the narratives manufactured by the Exhibition's organisers\, vis
 itors' accounts show how individuals with different backgrounds and intere
 sts navigated the Exhibition. Drawing on a variety of sources this paper w
 ill offer some new perspectives on the Exhibition and its significance for
  the history of the mid-19th century.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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