Little Things Mean a Lot: The History of Things, or Histories of Everything

July/August 2004 · Historically Speaking3 1 Tracing continuityis the theme ofno less than threevisuaUystunning exhibitions staged recentlyin London. The Victoria and Albert Museum brought together over 3 50 varied items to tell the story of "Gothic—Art for England, 1400-1547." As the sumptuous catalogue declares, "The last phase ofthe MiddleAges is aU aroundus," not onlyin the delicate traceryand soaringspaciousness ofgreat churches, but in palaces such as Hampton Court and the half-timbered homes ofwealthy East AngUcan merchants. Other artifacts, of course, are not "aU around us" in the sense of being readily accessible, so it was a joy to be overwhelmed by this assemblage ofjewels, ornate reUquaries, books ofhours, decorated armor, rolls ofarms, gilded chaUces, and humbler objects ofwood and pottery. "Illuminating the Renaissance," an exhibition at the Royal Academy, brings one aspectofthis periodinto sharper focus. Itcelebrates the final flowering ofmanuscriptiUumination by Flemish masters between 1470 and 1560. By bringing together examples from the British Library, theJ. Paul Getty Museum, and elsewhere, the organizers have made itpossible to appreciate the spectacular output ofartists who worked for the sophisticated Burgundian court. These last exponents of a doomed art form looked back to the 14th-15th-century Paris-based school which produced such gems as the TrèsRiches Heures ofthe duc de Berry but also reflected by their wealth ofsecular subjects, and their mastery of new techniques, the mood of a more humanist age. Atthe end ofJanuarythe National GaUery opened a displaywhich showed in more dramatic terms the changes thattookplace in the way sensitive observers viewed their own world and its relationship to the next. Byjuxtaposing paintings by Hieronymous Bosch (ca. 1450-1516) and Pieter Breughel the Elder (ca. 1525-1569) they showed how the arts of protestand satire changed in two generations. Both painters are thoughtto have been members of radical religious groups, and their works are full ofaUusions, mostlylostonmodernviewers . But Bosch's vision is ofa terrifyingworld infused byeternity and haunted by grostesque, mysticalfigures,whereas Breughel portrays the terrestrial plain and its inhabitants with love and gentle satire. Perhaps the Middle Ages did not so much "wane," as Huizinga suggested, buttransmuteinto a time when a greater degree ofinteUectual detachmentwas possible, which loosened the stranglehold ofan institutional church on the individual 's conscience. Paintings, iUuminated manuscripts, and goldsmiths' work were, of course, made for the super rich, and we must be careful not to be seduced by these glittering images into beUevingthat, via them, we journeybackinto Europe as it was 500-1,000 years ago. That brings me to my final piece ofevidence for a renaissance ofmedieval studies. The last three or fouryears have witnessed the pubUcation ofvarious historymagazines aimed at awide readership. The latest to hit the newsagents' stalls is a glossy monthly entitled, straightforwardly ,MedievalHistoryMagazine. Itoffers articles by experts on a wide range of subjects . I assume its pubUshers have done their market research and are confident ofa large readership. Ifthey are right, I rest my case. MedievaUsm is in. I am off to the shops for mycopyofthe latestissue. Now, where did I put that poppy? Derek Wilson is afreelance authorand broadcaster in the UK He is the organizerof the annual Cambridge History Festival. Little Things Mean a Lot:The History of Things, or Histories of Everything Joseph A. Amato Itwould be hard to miss the spate ofbooks in recent years on such everyday topics as chairs, pencils, paper clips, longitude, cod, salt, potatoes, rhubarb, dust, dirt, and germs. Books Uke these resist easy classification and yet arguably constitute a distinct genre ofhistory. Surprisingly, this pubUshing phenomenon has received Uttle notice amonghistorians, and almost equaUyremarkable it has no agreed upon name. Historically Speakingeditor DonaldYerxa, who encouraged me to write this essay, quicklywaved offmyinitial suggestion to dub the new genre microhistory. He pointed out thatitwould be confusedwith the contemporary Italian school ofhistory that also goes by that name and with the work of other Western historianswho depict awhole epoch, a society, or a culture on the basis ofan individual Ufe, aparticularviUage, or a singleincident . In turn, Iwas equaUyquickto rejecthis suggestion to caU it concept history. This term seemed toignore the materiaUty—"the thingness "—whichI associatedwith the newgenre and I tookto be its tie to inventions, technology , design, machines, plants, commodities...