Prologue. Things speaking for themselves -- Leaving room to guess -- Ten thousand gimcracks -- Coins : the most vocal monuments -- Manuscripts : burnt to a crust -- Weapons : a wilderness of arms -- Grave goods : the kings' four bodies -- Afterword. The artifactual form
Summary
"The book is a study of the artifacts that antiquarians (a.k.a. antiquaries) collected in the long eighteenth century. The author considers what objects drew their attention and how they interpreted and wrote about them--in politically charged ways and not with pure historical objectivity as they claimed. The book brings together material studies and literary studies. Part 1 presents a theory of the artifact, and part 2 presents case studies of particular artifacts: coins, manuscripts, weapons, and grave goods"-- Provided by publisher