Slavery in the Cabinet of Curiosities: Hans ... - British Museum

slaves. But what did “curiosity” mean at this time? Medieval curiosity had been
associated with a sinful lusting after forbidden knowledge, referring primarily to the Fall
of Adam and Eve. Human curiosity had divine limits. In the seventeenth century,
however, curiosity was gradually redeemed, and assumed new positive meanings at a
time when knowledge of the natural world was undergoing unprecedented expansion and
reform. Generally speaking, at least two understandings of curiosity became important in
this period. The first was linked to the practice of precise observation in order to produce
reliable matters of fact. Robert Hooke’s use of the microscope, and the fine-grained
engravings of natural specimens he published in his Micrographia (1665) epitomize this
culture of curiosity: one that aspired to represent the minute structures of natural bodies
as specimens of divine craftsmanship. This form of curiosity was morally and
epistemologically sure: it was linked to a pious appreciation of the divine order in all
created things, that made them intelligible to human reason. The “Knowledge of Natural-
History,” Sloane wrote, invoking Francis Bacon’s call to re-found knowledge on practical
experience, “being Observation of Matters of Fact, is more certain than most Others
…and less subject to Mistakes than Reasonings, Hypotheses, and Deductions ….[and it
affords] great Matter of Admiring the power, wisdom and providence of Almighty God,
in Creating, and Preserving the things he created.” iv
But curiosity was ambiguous. It retained associations with fascination for the
prodigious and unexplained, and a restless childlike passion for anything novel, that
could challenge notions of rational or divine order and existing knowledge systems. In
addition to the purposeful collection of facts, the experience of curiosity was literally an
arresting one, where wonder slowed the faculties and absorbed them in the challenge of
making order out of the strange. Seeing nature as a work of art thus encouraged utilitarian
efforts to organize and categorize its productions, while also fostering an appreciation for
its ability to puzzle the understanding. Sloane’s Natural History offered both views of
curious nature. Most of his two-volume work was a useful botanical inventory with
precise descriptions and illustrations of Jamaica’s plants in order to enable their
recognition and cultivation by Europeans. Other parts of the text, however, made
surprising juxtapositions between works of art and nature that challenged the reader to
make sense of their relationship. The Natural History was thus a cabinet of curiosities in
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