Lijst van vogels in het achtste deel van de vogels 1809 - 1814

This is a page from a book by Joseph van Huerne, listing birds in three different languages. Although undated, the handwriting suggests it was made around the turn of the 19th century. In this period, a belief in the power of classification to reveal the order of nature gripped the European imagination. Van Huerne was part of a network of natural historians whose work supported emerging scientific institutions, like museums and zoos. The very act of naming and categorizing nature was bound up with claiming ownership of it. The categories here tell us about the cultural context: the first column is in Dutch, the local vernacular, the second column is Latin, the language of science and formal scholarship, and the third is in French, the language of the aristocracy and diplomacy. In a single page, we can see the influence of class, science, and local culture. By studying these lists, we can begin to understand the social history of science and how systems of knowledge were shaped by cultural and institutional forces.