Victorians and the Prehistoric by Michael Freeman

Victorians and the Prehistoric by Michael Freeman

As the Victorians excavated the earth to create canals and railways in the early part of the nineteenth century, geological discoveries brought to light new narratives of the prehistoric, ideas that resounded in British society, art, and literature of the period. This engaging and generously illustrated book explores the Victorian fascination with all things prehistoric. Michael Freeman shows how men and women were both energized and unsettled by the realization that the formation of the earth over hundreds of millions of years and Darwin’s theories about the origins of life contradicted what they had read in the Bible. He describes the rock and fossil collecting craze that emerged, the sources of inspiration and imagery discovered by writers and artists, and the new importance of geologists and paleontologists. He also discusses the cathedral-like museums that sprang up in cities and towns, shrines to all that was progressive in the age but still clothed in the trappings of traditional ideas.

Michael Freeman, supernumerary fellow and lecturer in human geography at Mansfield College, Oxford, is also the author of Railways and the Victorian Imagination, published by Yale University Press.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780300103342
ISBN 10	0300103344
Title	Victorians and the Prehistoric
Author	Michael Freeman
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Yale University Press
Year published	2004-08-11
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.