Hello all–welcome to Biography, Autobiography and Pseudobiography in the Long Eighteenth Century
I look forward to reading your posts.
Reading Robinson Crusoe, I was reminded of the “Enlightenment” exhibit at the British Library a few years back:
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/enlightenment/
The exhibit brought together the idea of the classification of the world through enlightenment science with the colonial dimensions of the 18th century. As I walked through it, I found myself amazed by the taxonomic urge of early 18th century museum founders–but I mainly got the sense that the worldwide global exploration of the “age of enlightenment” was simply glorified grave robbing and curiosity collection.
