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Nineteenth-CenturyCollections.Definition,Organisation,andResearchMethodology
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inthesenseofsubordinatingthecollectiontothemainideathatitissup
-
posedtoreflect,private,ecclesiasticalcollections,etc.),chronology(objects
createdinthe19thcenturyorcollectedatthattime),orthetypeofobjects
(bookcollections,manuscriptsandprinteddocuments,musicdocuments,maps,
drawingsandprints,architecturalanddecorativeprojects,andotherartistic
objectsorworksofart).Itisworthnotingthatthetimecriterionismostofen
unreliableandthemostdifculttoapplyduetothereasonsmentionedabove.
Specialcollectionsinthelargestforeignlibrariesareprimarilydividedbysub-
ject,e.g.oriental,medical,artisticcollections,orbytype,suchascartographic,
music,manuscript,orgraphiccollections(calledGraphischeSammlungor
Kupferstichkabinett,
DépartementdesartsgraphiquesorCabinetdesEstampes,Prints
andDrawingsDepartmentorPrintRoom),includingprints,illustratedvolumesand
drawings-ingeneralobjectsonpaperorparchment,lessofenonsilk,satinorother
unusualmaterials.
Nineteenth-centurycollections-accordingtothebasicchronologicaldis-
tinctionbetweendocumentsgatheredduringthatperiodandobjectscreatedor
publishedatthattimeandconstitutingparticularcollections-areincreasingly
perceivedashistoric,requiringsystematicdescriptionandaestheticalvaluation.
Tisphenomenonhasintensifiedindińerentcountriessincethe1970sandis
usuallyaccompaniedbyachangeinthestatusofcertaincategoriesofcollec-
tionsandobjects,forinstance,fromiconographictoartisticorfromhistorical
tohistoric.
Tepurposeoftypologyistosystematisecollectionsand,aboveall,todevelop
andclarifyconceptsinagivenfield.However,consideringtheabove,isasim-
pletypologysufcienttosystematise19th-centurycollections?Ofenthedistinc-
tionofonlyonecategorysufcesasatypologicaltool,butonlyifitmeetsthe
conditionofcriterionuniqueness.Butcanthecontentofthecollectionorits
chronologicalconstitution(rarelyfoundinpurevariants)besuchacriterion?
Orshoulditratherbetheartisticornon-artisticcharacter?Historicvalueorlack
thereof?Ambiguouscriteria,however,donotmeettheconditionoflogicalor
realdivision.Forthevastmajorityofconceptsdescribingculturalreality,open
conceptsinparticular,thespecificfeatureoftheirreferentsisdiversity.Logical
divisionscanbemadeaccordingtomanycriteria,butthesemustbeunambiguous.
Itispossibletoadoptthe19th-centurycollectionasatype,althoughchronology
seemstobethebasicreferenthere(bothasthetimeoftheestablishmentofthe
collectionandthetimeofthecreationorpublicationoftheobjectsconstitut-
ingit).Tecategoriesofobjectscomprisingagivencollectionwillbeanother
criterion;however,itispossibletodefineseveralcriteriaforonecollection(for
instance,Warsawpublications,periodicals,childrenliterature,rossica).
