Collecting
Social Statuses
I have never put much thought as to why people have
“collections”. I also had no idea that collecting during the Romantic period
was such a huge trend. Therefore, naturally, when I began this course my
curiosity was peaked, and I really started wondering why people had
collections, in this era and in the Romantic period. What was the purpose, what
consists of a collection, what is the value of having a collection of anything?
Throughout the period of the semester, as I learned more about the society of
the Romantic period, I came to a conclusion.
My conclusion was that one of the sole purposes of have a “collection”
was to establish your social status. I have also concluded that this is the
same purpose for collections in our modern age. By having a collection, you are
showing the world your social status, your socioeconomic status, and personal
tastes. You are stating all this and more without ever needing to say anything.
This conclusion struck me like an epiphany while I
was visiting my grandmother. I had never paid much attention to her collections
but since taking this class, the idea of collections had been on my mind
constantly. I noticed that my grandmother had a book collection in her living
room; the bookcase was built into the wood of the wall and all the books were
leather bound. Not only were books leather bound but the pages were gilded and
the books had their own bookmarks. Upon inspection, I discovered that none of
the books had been opened, also the books were all renowned classics; Moby
Dick, the Divine Comedy, the Republic, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde, She Stoops to Conquer, the list goes on. I wondered why my grandmother
would have a collection of books if she was not going to read them. Then it became
obvious. The bookcase is in the living room, and placed to where it is the first thing you see upon entering.
Perhaps she had done this subconsciously, but nevertheless my grandmother
wanted people to know that she was well read and had money to spend. I believe people
of the Romantic period behaved in a similar manner.
Collecting Nature
After reading the Endeavor Journals, learning about Joseph Banks, and looking at his portrait, I think it is evident that the reasoning behind Banks vast collection, besides the obvious, is that he was stating his social status as an adventurer and scientist.
In the portrait we examined in class, it was the general consensus that Banks was displaying his adventures. By wearing the cape and having his tools and findings in the background, Banks is clearly stating his status. Banks’ plant collection is one of renown, and is so important that it is being held at the Natural History Museum. Even by learning a few facts of his life can tell anyone that his collection was a branch of his social status. This is visible in another scientist from our readings, Gilbert White. Gilbert White, who wrote The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, was a naturalist and an ornithologist. White was famous for his findings in Selborne, and although he believed in observing specimens, not collecting them, he is well known for his possession of his tortoise Timothy. His observations of Timothy are also well noted in his book, so much so that they sparked two novels, one of which was part of our readings. White’s frequent mention of Timothy in his novel and Timothy’s notoriety illustrates White’s social status as a distinguished scientist.In Klinkenborg’s Timothy, the tortoise makes a keen reflection about Gilbert White’s collection, his collection of numerous notes and letters that would become The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. Timothy notes in fragmented thoughts,
“Notes the songs down. Seven pockets to his jacket. Papers in each of them…Most recent letter from Barrington or Molly White. Scrapes with dates and birdsongs.” (20).
Erasmus Darwin is also another scientist whose famous literary work comments on his social status. Darwin's Loves of the Plants was a social commentary on the sexuality of his social peers. Darwin was famous for being outspoken, rebellious, and different, his collection of poems clearly stated this.
Collecting History
Not only did Brits of this time collect nature, they also collected history. Furthermore, not only did individuals collect but also the country collected, as a whole. In class we learned of the Greek’s Elgin Marbles, and their removal from Greece by Lord Elgin. After removing them and selling his collection to the British Museum, all of Britain could show off their collection to the world. It comes as no surprise to me that the British would wish to collect these marbles; they represent all that is great about Greece, and by possessing them England’s glory would rise.
The Elgin
Marbles had a profound effect on Byron and Keats. Byron criticized the removal
of the marbles and saw it as an atrocious act committed by Britain. As stated
by Angela Esterhammer, Byron’s reaction to the removal of the Elgin Marbles was
the poem The Curse of Minerva, in
which ends with England in ruins. Esterhammer declares, “Byron imagines the
ruin of England as a punishment called down by the curse of Minerva/Athena, the
goddess whose temple Lord Elgin destroyed.” (32). Esterhammer states that Keats
had a similar reaction, although Keats was more subtle than Byron was. Esterhammer
remarks that “Keats's diction and imagery subtly record the issues of cultural appropriation
and commodification that defined the contemporary debate about the marbles”
(30). Even though collecting to represent your social status is not negative,
the consequences of that action can have negative reactions. Byron and Keats could
see this. Even today this issue is argued; most agree that the Elgin marbles
belong in Greece but England has a tight grasp and does not seem to letting go
anytime soon. Other collections of history can also be found in Walter Scott’s The Lay of the Last Minstrel, which is a collection that consists of Scott’s own family history. Scott’s Minstrel tale is about his own ancestral clan and their feud with the Kerr’s clan in mid-1500. The minstrel is telling this vendetta to Anne, Duchess of Buccleuch in the 1600’s, whose family is in political battle with the royalty of England. All of this in the past as Scott was writing this epic poem. Scott is famous for collecting ballads and the Minstrel is no different,
except that Scott incorporates his own background into it. Scott was
establishing his social status as a ballad collector and member of an
esteemed and ancient family. It was through showing his and his family’s
social status in the Minstrel that raised not only Scotland’s
nationalism but also Scott’s fame. http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/biography/origins.html.
Matthew “Monk” Lewis was another famous writer who collected stories, but unlike Scott, Lewis liked to collect stories from other cultures. Although it was not well received by the critics, it still displayed Lewis’s ability to collect excellent stories, much like The Monk. Lewis, like Scott displayed his social status as a collector of stories with his publications.
Collecting the Poet/Self
Finally romantic society collected the poet or the self. This is quite evident with the celebrated Byron. As ars writes in their post here, Byron uses self -promotion in his poem to make himself a celebrity. His collection of adventurous and dramatic memories has become his work, and by integrating his collection of memories into his work he is figuratively selling his social status to the masses. John Clare is another poet, whose social status is integrated into his work; his social status is part of the masses’ collection of the “poet”. While the audience of the romantic period uses this collection of Clare, the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet, as a way to state their place in society, Clare does not try to raise his, despite his popularity. Clare’s makes the conscious decision to keep his humble background in his work. Evidence of this is in his use of the spoken vernacular of his Northamptonshire home, and the use of nature. However, towards the end of his life Clare wrote a poem that spoke out against the commercialization of the poet. In 1841, Clare wrote Don Juan A Poem, in this poem Clare satires the collection of the poet and the celebrity. As Jason Goldsmith writes in his article The Promiscuity of Print: John Clare's "Don Juan" and the Culture of Romantic Celebrity, Clare declared war on the romantic readers with Don Juan, “a hard-hitting and deliberately vulgar denunciation of English society and letter” (805). Clare obviously did not agree with being a collectible item. As stated before, the act of collecting to display social status is not necessarily a negative thing, but the role it plays in society is not always a positive thing. Clare did not wish to be a “Peasant poet”, as Goldsmith declares “as he sought to expand on his reception, to be considered a "poet" without the qualifying "peasant”, Clare found his audience, his patrons, and his publishers less than receptive”. Goldsmith continues this thought with this, “ "John Clare" was a unit of cultural capital mass produced and mass marketed to a variety of political and commercial ends by the diverse participants-writer, editors, publishers, booksellers, patrons, reviewers, readers-variously invested in its success”. John Clare had become a commodity, a portrait you hang on your wall, a gilded book you display on your bookcase for everyone’s viewing pleasure.
As stated in the introduction, I never realized how having a collection could state some much about your social standing. I never thought that a trend, such as collecting, could say so much about a society. I certainly never realized that in the beginning of the semester. I think that while some people may have consciously collected to show their social status, many like my grandmother did so subconsciously; they never realized that people from future generations would analyze, study, and teach about their collections.
Matthew “Monk” Lewis was another famous writer who collected stories, but unlike Scott, Lewis liked to collect stories from other cultures. Although it was not well received by the critics, it still displayed Lewis’s ability to collect excellent stories, much like The Monk. Lewis, like Scott displayed his social status as a collector of stories with his publications.
Collecting the Poet/Self
Finally romantic society collected the poet or the self. This is quite evident with the celebrated Byron. As ars writes in their post here, Byron uses self -promotion in his poem to make himself a celebrity. His collection of adventurous and dramatic memories has become his work, and by integrating his collection of memories into his work he is figuratively selling his social status to the masses. John Clare is another poet, whose social status is integrated into his work; his social status is part of the masses’ collection of the “poet”. While the audience of the romantic period uses this collection of Clare, the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet, as a way to state their place in society, Clare does not try to raise his, despite his popularity. Clare’s makes the conscious decision to keep his humble background in his work. Evidence of this is in his use of the spoken vernacular of his Northamptonshire home, and the use of nature. However, towards the end of his life Clare wrote a poem that spoke out against the commercialization of the poet. In 1841, Clare wrote Don Juan A Poem, in this poem Clare satires the collection of the poet and the celebrity. As Jason Goldsmith writes in his article The Promiscuity of Print: John Clare's "Don Juan" and the Culture of Romantic Celebrity, Clare declared war on the romantic readers with Don Juan, “a hard-hitting and deliberately vulgar denunciation of English society and letter” (805). Clare obviously did not agree with being a collectible item. As stated before, the act of collecting to display social status is not necessarily a negative thing, but the role it plays in society is not always a positive thing. Clare did not wish to be a “Peasant poet”, as Goldsmith declares “as he sought to expand on his reception, to be considered a "poet" without the qualifying "peasant”, Clare found his audience, his patrons, and his publishers less than receptive”. Goldsmith continues this thought with this, “ "John Clare" was a unit of cultural capital mass produced and mass marketed to a variety of political and commercial ends by the diverse participants-writer, editors, publishers, booksellers, patrons, reviewers, readers-variously invested in its success”. John Clare had become a commodity, a portrait you hang on your wall, a gilded book you display on your bookcase for everyone’s viewing pleasure.
As stated in the introduction, I never realized how having a collection could state some much about your social standing. I never thought that a trend, such as collecting, could say so much about a society. I certainly never realized that in the beginning of the semester. I think that while some people may have consciously collected to show their social status, many like my grandmother did so subconsciously; they never realized that people from future generations would analyze, study, and teach about their collections.
Works Citied
Esterhammer,
Angela. "Translating the Elgin
Marbles: Byron, Hemans, Keats." Wordsworth Circle 40.1 (2009): 29-36.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
Goldsmith,
Jason N. "The Promiscuity Of Print:
John Clare's 'Don Juan' And The Culture Of Romantic Celebrity." SEL: Studies
In English Literature, 1500-1900 46.4 (2006): 803-832. MLA International
Bibliography. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
Images
Bookcase:
Nel Blackerby
Sir
Joseph Banks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Banks_West.jpg
Elgin Marbles: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1883142_1883129_1883001,00.html
Post note: There is one person who was a famous
collector and discoverer whom we did not learn about in class. The person I am
talking about is a woman by the name of Mary Anning. Mary lived in Dorset
during the Romantic era, was a collector of fossils and contributed greatly to
the idea of prehistoric life on earth.
She was also the first to discover the fossil of an ichthyosaur. She had
an interesting life and I think would be a great addition to this course in the
future. I first discovered her in Tracy Chevalier’s Remarkable
Creatures, a great book that also had a little bit of information about
romantic collecting
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