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2 years ago in Economic History , Science Studies By Angel

Were curiosities or commodities more significant in early modern natural history?

In my thesis on the development of botanical collections, I’m grappling with a central historiographical debate. Were these endeavors fundamentally fueled by a scholarly desire to understand the natural world, or were they primarily economic projects tied to empire and trade? I need to assess their relative significance.

 

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By Coral Answered 2 months ago

From my research, framing this as an "either/or" can be limiting. I have seen that curiosity and commerce were symbiotic engines. A rare shell could be a profound naturalia for a collector and a high-value commodity for a merchant on the same ship. The curiosity drive created the intellectual framework and demand, while commerce supplied the material. I would recommend analyzing specific networks like the Dutch East India Company to see how these motivations fused in practice, rather than trying to separate them abstractly.

 

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