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Empire, the British Museum, and the Making of the Biblical Scholar in the Nineteenth Century

Archival Criticism

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Offers a critical counter-reading of the early history of the British Museum
  • Focuses on the collaborative relationships and affective modes of affiliation between scientific-based biblical critics and the British Museum
  • Offers an analysis of the ethical and political implications of a national museum of the Bible

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Introduction: Historicizing the Master Archive

    • Gregory L. Cuéllar
    Pages 1-13
  3. Mastering Biblical History in the British Museum

    • Gregory L. Cuéllar
    Pages 15-52
  4. Books and Bodies in the British Museum Reading Room

    • Gregory L. Cuéllar
    Pages 53-93
  5. The Biblical Critic as Collector

    • Gregory L. Cuéllar
    Pages 95-129
  6. Biblical Scholar as Imperial State Agent

    • Gregory L. Cuéllar
    Pages 131-175
  7. Epilogue: Contextualizing a Museum of the Bible

    • Gregory L. Cuéllar
    Pages 177-183
  8. Back Matter

    Pages 185-188

About this book

Since the modern period, the field of biblical studies has relied upon libraries, museums, and archives for its evidentiary and credentialing needs. Yet, absent in biblical scholarship is a thorough and critical examination of the instrumentality of the discipline’s master archives for elite power structures. Addressing this gap in biblical scholarship lies central to this book. Interrogated here is a premier repository or master archive of the discipline: the British Museum. Using an assemblage of critical theories from archival discourse to postcolonial studies, space theory to governmentality studies, the focal point of this book is at the intersections of the Museum’s rise to scientific prominence, the British Empire, and the conferring of scientific authority to modern biblical critics in the nineteenth century.  Gregory L. Cuéllar initiates a season of historicization of the master archives of biblical studies and archival criticism.


Reviews

“Cuéllar’s work is incisive, persuasive, and important. … Cuéllar’s task in Empire, the British Museum, and the Making of the Biblical Scholar in the Nineteenth Century is hermeneutically-minded and immanently relevant to the shifting tides of biblical criticism in the twenty-first century.” (Erin J. Beall, Horizons in Biblical Theology, Vol. 44 (1), 2022)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, USA

    Gregory L. Cuéllar

About the author

Gregory L. Cuéllar is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, USA. His research reveals a transdisciplinary scope, focusing primarily on the intersections of elite power and master archives as well as religion and migration.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Empire, the British Museum, and the Making of the Biblical Scholar in the Nineteenth Century

  • Book Subtitle: Archival Criticism

  • Authors: Gregory L. Cuéllar

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24028-8

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-24027-1Published: 05 September 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-24030-1Published: 05 September 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-24028-8Published: 23 August 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 188

  • Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Biblical Studies, Imperialism and Colonialism, British Culture

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access