Sacred Relics

Pieces of the Past in Nineteenth-Century America

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century
Cover of the book Sacred Relics by Teresa Barnett, University of Chicago Press
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Author: Teresa Barnett ISBN: 9780226059747
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: September 19, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Teresa Barnett
ISBN: 9780226059747
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: September 19, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

A piece of Plymouth Rock. A lock of George Washington’s hair. Wood from the cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born. Various bits and pieces of the past—often called “association items”—may appear to be eccentric odds and ends, but they are valued because of their connections to prominent people and events in American history. Kept in museum collections large and small across the United States, such objects are the touchstones of our popular engagement with history.

In Sacred Relics, Teresa Barnett explores the history of private collections of items like these, illuminating how Americans view the past. She traces the relic-collecting tradition back to eighteenth-century England, then on to articles belonging to the founding fathers and through the mass collecting of artifacts that followed the Civil War. Ultimately, Barnett shows how we can trace our own historical collecting from the nineteenth century’s assemblages of the material possessions of great men and women.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A piece of Plymouth Rock. A lock of George Washington’s hair. Wood from the cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born. Various bits and pieces of the past—often called “association items”—may appear to be eccentric odds and ends, but they are valued because of their connections to prominent people and events in American history. Kept in museum collections large and small across the United States, such objects are the touchstones of our popular engagement with history.

In Sacred Relics, Teresa Barnett explores the history of private collections of items like these, illuminating how Americans view the past. She traces the relic-collecting tradition back to eighteenth-century England, then on to articles belonging to the founding fathers and through the mass collecting of artifacts that followed the Civil War. Ultimately, Barnett shows how we can trace our own historical collecting from the nineteenth century’s assemblages of the material possessions of great men and women.

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