Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

showing 657 library results for 'china'

Sort by

Before the battlecruiser : the big cruiser in the world's navies 1865-1910 /Aidan Dodson "The battlecruiser is perceived by many as the most glamorous of warships, remembered for its triumphs and tragedies in both world wars. Often forgotten are its lineal ancestors, the big cruisers that were constructed as capital ships for distant waters, as commerce raiders, and as fast scouts for the battlefleet during the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first years of the twentieth. In this new book by bestselling author Aidan Dobson, the 200 or so big cruisers that were built for the world's navies from 1865 are described and analysed in detail. The type came into being in the 1860s when the French built a series of cruising ironclads to project its power in the Far East. Britain followed suit as did Russia. By the 1890s the general adoption of these fast, heavily-armed and moderately armoured vessels ushered in the golden age of the big cruiser. These great ships would go on to be key combatants in the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese wars, the Japanese employing them within the battlefleet in a manner that heralded later battlecruiser tactics. In Britain, in reply to the launch of the big Russian Rurik in 1890, there was spawned the freakishly huge HMS Powerful and HMS Terrible, ships that underlined the public's view of the glamour of the 'great cruiser'. Indeed, the two ships' cap-tallies became ubiquitous on the sailor suits of late Victorian British children. In some navies, particularly those of South American republics, the big cruiser became the true capital ship, while the Italians built the Giuseppe Garibaldi as a more affordable battleship. By the beginning of the twentieth century the type became yet bigger and guns approached battleship size; with HMS Invincible the British created what was, in 1912, officially dubbed the 'battlecruiser'. Despite their growing obsolescence in the new century some had remarkably long careers in patrol and other subsidiary roles, the Argentine Garibaldi still sailing as a training ship in the 1950s. The design, development and operations of all these great vessels is told with the author's usual attention to detail and depth of analysis and will delight naval enthusiasts and historians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.81.3(100)

Oriental visions : exhibitions, travel, and collecting in the Victorian age /Nicky Levell. "A richly illustrated and unique contribution to the fields of critical museology, the history of collecting, and cultural studies, in general. Through the biography of Frederick John Horniman (1835-1906), a Victorian traveller, collector, and Museum founder, this work critically reconstructs and explores the dynamic cultural network of individuals and institutions; touristic and collecting practices; textual and exhibitionary media, which interacted and generated images of the exotic Orient. Starting in the leafy suburbs of south London, this study begins by examining the afterlife of the world renowned Crystal Palace, which had housed the world's first Great Exhibition. Following its move from Hyde Park to Sydenham in the mid-1850s, this immense glass structure soon became a popular tourist destination, attracting more than a million visitors every year and transforming its once isolated rural surrounds into fashionable residential areas. Levell specifically focuses on the powerful, though selective, representations of the distant Orient at the People's Palace, which enchanted Victorian sightseers, artists, collectors, and travellers. She then looks in detail at the spectacular displays of the British Empire's 'Eastern Possessions' at the hugely popular Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 in South Kensington. Together these two exhibitionary complexes, with their visually striking images of the Orient, guided Frederick Horniman's travels and also influenced the type of material that he acquired for his private Museum, which was located in Forest Hill, a short distance from the Crystal Palace. From exhibitions and collections, this monograph then moves on to explore travel and collecting. Drawing on the journal that Frederick Horniman kept during his world tours, a fascinating and richly illustrated account is given of the Victorian tourist's travels in India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Japan, China, Burma (Union of Myanmar), and Egypt, describing the places he visited, the peoples he encountered, and the objects he collected. Finally, attention is turned to the extensive oriental collections, which were assembled by Horniman over a forty-year period, and placed on public display in his twenty-four room Museum. In their museal setting, these exhibits, which had been acquired from dealers, auction houses, international exhibitions, missionaries, travellers, and colonial officials, both at home and abroad, conjured up striking and alluring visions of the Orient."--Provided by the publisher. 2000. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 7.074"18/19"

Collectors : individuals and institutions /edited by Anthony Shelton. "Collectors: individuals and institutions brings together sixteen essays both on specific collectors and the history of the formation of ethnographic and Asian collections in museums throughout England, Ulster and Belgium. The history of ethnographic collecting in the UK has received little attention until recently, and the present volume provides the only introduction in print to the development of important collections held by museums in London, Oxford, Exeter, Manchester, Ipswich, Halifax, Bournemouth, and elsewhere. The authors examine the circumstances and sometimes accidental events that led to the assemblage of important collections; the purposes for which they were made; the political circumstances under which they became institutionalised in museums, and the different ways museums have interpreted and displayed them. A number of essays examine the effects of new global relations on how and what museums collect today, and chart new directions in re-appraising our professional relations with non-western cultures."--Provided by the publisher. [2001]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 7.074

A history of women in astronomy and space exploration : exploring the trailblazers of STEM /Dale DeBakcsy. "For the last four hundred years, women have played a part far in excess of their numerical representation in the history of astronomical research and discovery. It was a woman who gave us our first tool for measuring the distances between stars, and another who told us for the first time what those stars were made of. It was women who first noticed the rhythmic noise of a pulsar, the temperature discrepancy that announced the existence of white dwarf stars, and the irregularities in galactic motion that informed us that the universe we see might be only a small part of the universe that exists. And yet, in spite of the magnitude of their achievements, for centuries women were treated as essentially second-class citizens within the astronomical community, contained in back rooms, forbidden from communicating with their male colleagues, provided with repetitive and menial tasks, and paid starvation wages. This book tells the tale of how, in spite of all those impediments, women managed, by sheer determination and genius, to unlock the secrets of the night sky. It is the story of some of science's most hallowed names - Maria Mitchell, Caroline Herschel, Vera Rubin, Nancy Grace Roman, and Jocelyn Bell-Burnell - and also the story of scientists whose accomplishments were great, but whose names have faded through lack of use - Queen Seondeok of Korea, who built an observatory in the 7th century that still stands today, Wang Zhenyi, who brought heliocentrism to China, Margaret Huggins, who perfected the techniques that allowed us to photograph stellar spectra and thereby completely changed the direction of modern astronomy, and Hisako Koyama, whose multi-decade study of the sun's surface is as impressive a feat of steadfast scientific dedication as it is a rigorous and valuable treasure trove of solar data. A History of Women in Astronomy and Space Exploration is not only a book, however, of those who study space, but of those who have ventured into it, from the fabled Mercury 13, whose attempt to join the American space program was ultimately foiled by betrayal from within, to mythical figures like Kathryn Sullivan and Sally Ride, who were not only pioneering space explorers, but scientific researchers and engineers in their own rights, aided in their work by scientists like Mamta Patel Nagaraja, who studied the effects of space upon the human body, and computer programmers like Marianne Dyson, whose simulations prepared astronauts for every possible catastrophe that can occur in space."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 520.9252

The world of visual time signals for mariners : time balls, time guns, time lights and other signals /Roger Kinns, editor "This book describes the worldwide evolution of land-based visual time signals that were used by mariners in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for accurate navigation at sea. They followed development of chronometers which were carried in ships to show mean time at Greenwich, the chosen prime meridian. Greenwich time could be compared with local astronomical time to determine longitude, but chronometers were mechanical devices that had to be checked for accuracy. Land-based signals that were regulated by astronomical observations evolved from the ideas in 1818 of Robert Wauchope, a British naval officer who served at the Cape of Good Hope. He inspired introduction of time balls, specifically the time ball at Greenwich in 1833 which set the standard for subsequent installations and is still in operation today. The main emphasis is on the external appearance of time signals at different locations around the world and how they were used by mariners for rating chronometers. Time ballsand guns also became popular signals for public use and workplace control but then had social and political implications."-- 2024. • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

In sparkling company : reflections on glass in the 18th-century British world /Christopher L. Maxwell, with contributions by Marvin Bolt, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, Jennifer Y. Chuong, Melanie Doderer-Winkler, Anna Moran, Marcia Pointon, and Kerry Sinanan. "Britain in the 1700s was complex, dynamic, and full of growth, whether industrial, geographical, intellectual or societal. The nation began the century under the leadership of a Dutch king (William III, r. 1689-1702), followed by a dynasty of Germans (the Hanoverians, r.1714-1837). Its aristocracy was educated on European Grand Tours, and its commercial, political and territorial ambitions stretched from North America to India, and from Africa to China. It was a world that fostered exploration, expansion and exploitation. The British glass industry replaced that of Venice as the global leader during this period but, beyond its presence in dining and drinking rituals, little discussion has hitherto been made of the significance of glass in the lives of the country's elite during the 1700s. In Sparkling Company: Reflections on Glass in the 18th-Century British World accompanies a major exhibition at The Corning Museum of Glass in 2021. From portraiture to costume, and science to slavery, the essays contained in this publication offer unique perspectives from noted scholars on the role of glass in defining and expressing the cultural values of Britain during the 1700s."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 748

The sea and the Second World War : maritime aspects of a global conflict /edited by Marcus Faulkner and Alessio Patalano. "This volume illustrates the impact of naval operations on the Second World War by providing insight into political, strategic, administrative, and operational aspects of the maritime war from Axis and Allied perspectives. This colleciton emphasises the function of the sea as a bridge and as a barrier that can connect and protect nations or can be used to project power and sustain campaigns ashore. The sea shaped the course and conduct of World War II, from the first moments of the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. The impact could be felt far beyond the shoreline, as the arms and armies carried across the oceans were ultimately destined to wage war ashore. Populations and industries depended on the raw materials and supplies in a war that increasingly became a contest of national will and economic might. Ultimately, it was the war at sea that linked numerous regional conflicts and theaters of operation into a global war. As the war grew in complexity and covered an increasingly larger geographical area, the organization of the maritime effort and the impact it had on the formulation of national strategy also evolved. This volume illustrates the impact of naval operations on the Second World War by highlighting topics previously neglected in the scholarship. In doing so, it provides new insights into political, strategic, administrative, and operational aspects of the maritime dimension of the war"-- 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/5

The voyages and manifesto of William Fergusson, a surgeon of the East India Company 1731-1739 / edited by Derek L. Elliott. "This volume brings to publication for the first time the manuscript of William Fergusson, a Scottish ship's surgeon who sailed for the East India Company in the 1730s. Written in 1767, while in retirement, Fergusson's diaries are the memories of his youth spent travelling the world during his apprenticeship. They detail the four voyages he took, the first, a passage from Scotland to England with a lading in Ireland, and three others to the East, calling at ports in the Atlantic, southern Africa, Arabia, India, and Southeast Asia, before reaching as far as China. Almost nothing is known of Fergusson and none of his other writings are known to survive. Remaining evidence suggests that he was an average man of his class, who travelled the well-plied trade routes of European merchant capitalism. While many logbooks of these voyages survive, comparatively few accounts were written by the men who sailed them. Fewer still ever come to light. Fergusson's manuscript offers a rare new source on what were by then the relatively routine voyages of the East India Company's early trading network, providing a treasure trove of comments on the politics, economics, societies, and religious beliefs and practices he witnessed along the way. Originally titled 'Journals of my Voyages & Manifesto', the name suggests Fergusson's manuscript offers far more than the insights usually contained in contemporary travelogues. In his manifesto, readers will discover Fergusson's impassioned polemics on natural religion, devotional 'enthusiasm', just governance, all while he implores the principles of rationality and reason. It is truly a manifesto of Enlightenment thought. As such, it also provides a unique example of how those who sailed for the East India Company during the early modern era participated in a global intellectual exchange of ideas. Fergusson wrote his private memories in twenty-two small bound booklets, all of which have been transcribed and annotated to guide the reader. These are presented here along with a critical introduction that contextualises the complex eighteenth-century world into which Fergusson voyaged, including elements of his role as a ship's surgeon, the Indian Ocean trading and political environment, and the ideas of the Enlightenment he so passionately expressed. Researchers interested in the histories of ideas, medicine, early-modern colonialism, maritime merchant empires, as well as historians of Africa and Asia, will find much new information to explore within the pages of this volume"-- 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.22HAKLUYT

Sailing with Cook : inside the private journal of James Burney RN /Suzanne Rickard ; foreword by Peter Cochrane. "Sailing with Cook: Inside the Private Journal of James Burney RN is about the young James Burney's experience of shipboard life and the momentous events that took place during the second voyage of exploration when he sailed with Captain Cook on the Resolution and then on the Adventure between 1772 and 1773. At the age of 22, James Burney (1750-1821) was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. Embarking on a great voyage he decided to keep a private journal written not for officialdom but for the delight and information of his family and friends. It was an aide-memoire, a record of his coming of age and the getting of wisdom. He claimed at the outset, 'my chief aim is your amusement'. Under the command of Captain James Cook and Captain Tobias Furneaux on the Adventure, Burney crossed the Antarctic Circle, he was one of the first Englishmen to walk on Tasmania's southern beaches, he endured raging seas and icy weather, he sailed to New Zealand's South Island and into its beautiful sounds, and then he sailed further north to explore the tropical waters of the islands and atolls of Polynesia. Burney witnessed death at sea from misadventure and scurvy, and he experienced the shocking death of ten shipmates at the hands of Maori warriors. He enjoyed cordial advances from Pacific Islanders and the friendship of Omai, a young Ra'iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe. Burney listened carefully to island music making (to please his musician father), witnessed religious ceremonies and observed Pacific Islanders' hierarchies. He noted the building of war canoes and absorbed ancient Pacific myths and lore of navigation. All these experiences expanded his world view. This was in addition to working with his captain on making charts, maintaining ship's discipline and the ship's log, and upholding naval traditions as expected of a young officer. Burney's early life and his extraordinary family and connections are contextualised to illuminate the story of the private journal. Burney's extensive naval career took him to North America, the Mediterranean, the African continent, to India and the East Indies, to China, Alaska and Hawaii. He sailed again with Cook on the third voyage of discovery in 1776 and witnessed Cook's death at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, in 1779. Burney's naval career was hindered by his independent frame of mind, if not his republican sentiments and alleged insubordination. Despite setbacks and disappointments, he was eventually promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral on the Retired List in a belated recognition of his service and seniority. In enforced retirement, Burney commenced a second career as a writer on the topic of global marine exploration. He married late, had children and, for a time, he was embroiled in an unorthodox domestic arrangement. He criticised government expenditures, he wrote a series of scholarly papers for the Royal Society and was elected a Fellow, he was highly respected for his studies of exploration and navigation, and he maintained eclectic circles of friends drawn from musical, literary, dramatic, naval and political circles. He was an amiable friend to many, including his famous sister, the novelist Fanny Burney who championed James throughout her life. Burney died in 1821 leaving a legacy of writing, including this first private journal that opened up a new world to his friends, and now to us. This book features facsimile pages extracted from the private journal and is beautifully illustrated with maps, portraits, contemporary documents and artefacts, including information text boxes on people and issues."--Provided by the publisher. [2015] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.92

Explore our Collection