L'ordre des choses : cabinets et musées d'histoire naturelle au Québec (1824-1900)

Throughout the nineteenth century, natural history museums proliferated in Quebec. The authors point out that the popularity of such museums was a consequence of the popularity of natural history itself, as a form of diversion among the middle-class. It was linked also to the teaching of the various branches of the discipline at the colleges and universities of the province. Examining such learned societies as the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec and the Natural History Society of Montreal, and natural history museums such as the Redpath Museum at McGill University and Montreal's Del Vecchio Museum, the authors show that the popularity of natural history had more to do with social and cultural trends than with the professionalization of science. In this respect, they argue, the "museum movement" in Quebec did not separate itself from what was observed in the rest of the world at the time.

Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française

Vol. 44

no. 1

3-30

Été 1990

fr