Circulating Objects

The chapter explores how early American collections were consistently preoccupied with threats of loss and decay. It focuses on the American Philosophical Society’s cabinet, which was developed through the society’s networks of members and correspondents and included specimens, antiquarian artifacts, models, maps, and books. This chapter examines writings by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur and Charles Willson Peale to show how the uncertainties of attempting to build museum collections informed ongoing conversations about preservation and potential loss. By narratively experimenting with the possibilities of lost or missing information in Letters from an American Farmer and other writings, Crèvecoeur reveals ongoing concern with the longevity and survival of fragile manuscripts and printed texts. Peale similarly takes up questions of preservation, using his skill at taxidermy to promote his relationship with the Society and to link public museums to national stability.