Resumen de The zoological collections of the Museu de Lisboa and the networks of scientific correspondence and exchange (1858-1898)
In 1858, the royal zoological collections hosted in Lisbon became part of the Polytechnic School (1837-1911) to be of assistance to the classes in Zoology. The previous «Museu de Lisboa» at the Royal Academy of Sciences was now to be organized following proper scientific and up-to-date knowledge. José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (1823-1907), as the head professor in Zoology, became in 1859 the Director and first organizer of the “Zoological Section of the Museum of Lisbon”. Through his work and direction the royal collections became a museum designed as part of the exchange network of specimens and the scientific knowledge within.
To discover, collect and send home to Europe natural objects and images of the new world was a comprehensive task held by many naturalists whether with an academic, military or religious background.
Nevertheless, the understanding of the knowledge held in all the thousands of specimens being brought to European collections and exchanged between European societies, academies and universities was now being completed inside the collections storage rooms.
In this paper we analyse the correspondence of Barbosa du Bocage to his foreign peers aiming to contribute for a clearer picture of the importance of the network established between private collections, universities and museums in the construction of new knowledge in the study of nature at the second half of the nineteenth century. We argue that some influential authors were organizing knowledge about nature from inside the museum’s walls and that the way the trade of specimens inside Europe was made is of major importance for the production of knowledge. Analysing the relationships established between these authors (their institutions and nations) and other professors, collectors, patrons, diplomats, naturalists and taxidermists may facilitate the study of scientific knowledge production.
