Research Catalog

Title

A culture of fact : England, 1550-1720 / Barbara J. Shapiro.

Author

Shapiro, Barbara J.

Publication

Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

x, 284 pages; 24 cm

Summary

"Barbara J. Shapiro traces the surprising genesis of the "fact," a modern concept that, she convincingly demonstrates, originated not in natural science but in legal discourse. She follows the concept's evolution and diffusion across a variety of disciplines in early modern England, examining how the emerging "culture of fact" shaped the epistemological assumptions of each intellectual enterprise."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Curiosities and wonders > England > Historiography
• Physical sciences > England > Historiography
• Law and fact > England > History
• Knowledge, Theory of
• Facts (Philosophy)
• Science > England > Philosophy
• Science > England > History > 16th century
• Science > England > History > 17th century
• Evidence (Law) > England > History > 16th century
• Evidence (Law) > England > History > 17th century
• England > Intellectual life > 17th century
• Great Britain > Historiography. > Tudors, 1485-1603
• Great Britain > Historiography. > Stuarts, 1603-1714
• England > Intellectual life > 16th century
• England > Intellectual life > 18th century

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-271) and index.

Contents

1. "Fact" and the Law -- 2. "Fact" and History -- 3. Discourses of Fact: Chorography, Description, and Travel Reporting -- 4. "News," "Marvels," "Wonders," and the Periodical Press -- 5. The Facts of Nature I -- 6. The Facts of Nature II -- 7. Facts of Religion -- 8. Cultural Elaboration of "Fact"

ISBN

0801436869 (cloth : acid-free paper)

LCCN

99035076

OCLC

ocm41606276

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries