Securing the Past
Conservation in Art, Architecture and Literature

An investigation of the linked underlying theories behind the different arts and practices of restoring historic objects and texts.

Paul Eggert (Author)

9780521898089, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 January 2009

304 pages, 29 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.6 kg

'There is so much to consider in this volume that the journey will be much more interesting than any final word. It is a volume to be highly recommended. I look forward to seeing Eggert's work being picked up and debated in those professional forums where it can make most impact.' Robyn Sloggett, Director of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, University of Melbourne

We all have a stake in the past and in its tangible preservation, and we trust professionals to preserve our cultural heritage for the future. However, restoration in all its forms is entangled in many contemporary theoretical debates and problems. This book is the first concerted effort to examine together the linked philosophies of the different arts of preserving and uncovering the past: the restoration of buildings, conservation of works of art, and editing of literary works to retrieve their original or intended texts. By investigating a series of recent crises in each of these areas, Securing the Past shows how their underlying justifications relate closely to one another. Paul Eggert shows how they have been philosophically undermined by postmodern theories and charts another, richer way forward to a new future for the past.

1. Introduction
2. The witness of historic buildings and the restoration of the churches
3. The new Ruskinians and the new aesthetes
4. Forgery and authenticity: historical documents, literary works and paintings
5. Conservators and agency: their role in the work
6. Subtilising authorship: Rembrandt, scientific evidence and modern connoisseurship
7. Materialist, performance or literary Shakespeare?
8. Modes of editing literary works: conflicts in theory and practice
9. Readers and editors: new directions in scholarly editing
10. The editorial gaze and the nature of the work
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB], Conservation, restoration & care of artworks [ABC]