Some Current Publications

Restoration seeks compilers for "Some Current Publications." Those interested should send an email indiciating interest to the editors at restorationjournal@umd.edu. Advanced graduate students are especially encouraged to apply.

ARTHUR ANNESLEY

See MARGARET CAVENDISH (Begley)

RALPH AUSTEN

Matei, Oana. "Appetitive Matter and Perception in Ralph Austen's Projects of Natural History of Plants." Early Science and Medicine, vol. 23, no. 5/6, 2018, pp. 530-549. Although Ralph Austen (1612-1676) is an under-examined figure on his own, being most commonly associated with the Hartlib Circle, Oana Matei looks at Austen's individual accomplishments in this article. Matei suggests that if we engage with Austen's texts as natural histories, we will gain a clearer perspective of his writing and, more broadly, see how Austen is aligned with Baconian theories, particularly the adoption of appetitive matter. Matei illustrates three points of similarity between Austen and Bacon: 1. The use of spirits as the reason for animate matter; 2. The relationship between sympathy and antipathy in elements of matter; 3. The appetitive properties of plants. Matei argues that reexamining Austen's work with this new framework will help illuminate not only Baconian reception within the Hartlib Circle, but also place Austen at the core of conversations on the experimental and theoretical in natural philosophy.

See also SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (Clericuzio)

JOHN BAGFORD

Somers, Tim. "Tradesmen in virtuoso culture: "Honest" John Bagford and his collecting network, 1683-1716." Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 3, 2018, pp. 359-386. Somers reinvestigates a neglected figure in the history of collecting, John Bagford (1650-1716), and re-contextualizes his contribution to virtuoso culture in the late seventeenth century. Utilizing Bagford's personal papers, Somers repositions Bagford from the periphery to the center of scholarship on networking and retailing within collection circles. By placing Bagford at the center of his collection networks, Somers suggests that tradesmen were not merely passive suppliers but, rather, actively shaped virtuoso culture by enhancing the intellectual and economic worth of printed materials and growing collection networks.

JANE BARKER

Mann, Rachel. "Jane Barker, Manuscript Culture, and the Epistemology of the Microscope." Eighteenth-Century Life, vol. 43, no. 1, 2019, pp. 50-75. Rachel Mann evaluates the writing of Jane Barker within the framework of manuscript culture and the microscope, specifically highlighting the multi-faceted approach to knowledge that is required in each of these fields. Mann cites Hooke and the microscope as an indicator of shifting epistemologies—from one viewpoint, to one composed of multiple perspectives—and the expansion of a collectivist approach to knowledge formation. Barker's own usage of multiple viewpoints is explored throughout her poem "A Farewell to Poetry," which depicts her retreat from poetry to further study anatomy. Mann contends that by putting various anatomical theories into conversation, Barker's poem "performs a collectivist method to organize and thus approximate knowledge" (69).

APHRA BEHN

Appler, Vivian. ""Shuffled Together under the Name of a Farce": Finding Nature in Aphra Behn's The Emperor of the Moon. "TheatreHistory Studies, vol. 37, 2018, pp. 27-51. Vivian Appler uses Aphra Behn's play The Emperor of the Moon to interrogate Behn's position in the 'New Science.' Appler places Behn in the heart of New Science discourse as a credible critic and participant. Appler employs Bruno Latour's ANT theory, along with a feminist critique and science-oriented historiographical evaluation of The Emperor and Behn's preface to A Discovery of New Worlds, to identify Aphra Behn as a significant figure in Restoration science. The article details Behn's placement of the telescope center-stage in The Emperor, thus inviting both her players and her audience to engage with the new science, constructing a "theatrical laboratory" (43) where all actors were encouraged to become participants in experiments and natural philosophy. Appler suggests, through her examination of Behn's The Emperor and prefatory material, that women had "permeated the boundaries of experimental science" (46).

See also DRAMA & PERFORMANCE (Dorrego); PRINT & PUBLICATION HISTORY (Orr)

ROBERT BOYLE

Wragge-Morley, Alexander. "Robert Boyle and the representation of imperceptible entities." British Society for the History ofScience, vol. 51, no. 1, 2018, pp...