Antiquarianism, science and networks of knowledge: The archives of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society, 1710-1760

虽然斯伯丁绅士协会（SGS）的一些记录已经出版，并且对其生活的某些方面进行了研究，但关于SGS如何看待自己与伦敦社会和那些更接近家乡的团体（特别是彼得伯勒绅士协会，支持Wisbech镇图书馆的圈子，以及剑桥的收藏家和古物学家）的关系，还有待发现。莫里斯·约翰逊的个人文件（散落在许多机构之间）将为这一时期的古物知识交流提供进一步的证据，并将告诉我们很多关于18世纪早期古物研究相互联系的本质。他们是否也能告诉我们成员参与SGS的公共和私人方面的冲突？尽管信件在会议上被大声朗读，但很明显，一些成员希望私人信件保持原样。考虑到SGS与伦敦的一些学会不同，没有发表其研究成果，这种通信的作用是否具有新的意义？鉴于我对书籍和收藏史的兴趣，学会的两种有形藏品——书籍和实物——的作用将是我研究的关键。书籍在SGS内部和社会之间的知识交流中占有什么地位？从伦敦购买新出版物，要求会员为购买书籍捐款，并与其他协会讨论管理不断增长的收藏的最佳方法。赠书和复制历史文献也巩固了友谊，在社会及其成员之间建立了联系。作为一个学术团体，SGS的藏品是如何进一步实现其目标的？这些藏品与英国皇家学会的同类藏品是否相似（例如，他们的1681年目录是否影响了SGS如何组织自己的藏品？）此外，SGS和伦敦咖啡馆的运营方式有什么相似之处（如果有的话），尤其是在新闻采集领域；SGS成立于咖啡馆，知识交流、书籍和友情是这两个机构存在的关键。除了提高我们对当时最重要的省级学术团体之一的运作情况的了解，并将其置于18世纪古物收藏的更广泛趋势中，我对莫里斯·约翰逊和SGS的研究将对许多领域产生更广泛的影响，包括科学史（该协会的许多兴趣是我们今天可能归类为科学的）、博物馆研究、社会史（特别是城乡书信网络的发展）和地方史。

Whilst some of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society's (SGS) records have been published, and research undertaken into certain aspects of the its life, much is yet to be discovered about how the SGS saw itself in relation to London societies and those groups closer to home (notably the Peterborough Gentlemen's Society, the circle who supported Wisbech Town Library, and collectors and antiquarians at Cambridge). Maurice Johnson's personal papers (scattered between a number of institutions) will provide further evidence of the exchange of antiquarian knowledge during this period and will tell us much about the inter-connected nature of early eighteenth-century antiquarianism. What, too, can they tell us about the conflict between the public and private aspects of members' involvement with the SGS; although correspondence was read aloud at meetings it is clear than some members wanted private letters to remain just that. Does the role of such correspondence take on a new significance bearing in mind that the SGS - unlike some of the London societies - did not publish its research? The role of the Society's two tangible collections - of books and objects - would be key to my research, given my interests in the history of books and collecting. What place did books have in the exchange of knowledge both within the SGS and between societies; new publications were acquired from London, members were asked to give money for the purchase of books and discussions were had with other societies on the best ways to manage the growing collection. Gifts of books, and the copying of historic documents, also cemented friendships, forging links between societies and their members. How did the SGS's collections further their objectives as a learned society, and were these similar to those of comparable collections like those of the Royal Society (did their 1681 catalogue influence how the SGS organised their own objects, for example?). Furthermore, what similarities are there, if any, between the ways in which the SGS and London coffeehouses operated, particularly in the field of gathering news; the SGS began its life in the coffeehouse, and knowledge exchange, books and camaraderie were key to the existence of both institutions. In addition to improving our knowledge of the workings of one of the most significant provincial learned societies of the period, and situating it within broader trends of eighteenth-century antiquarianism, my research into Maurice Johnson and the SGS will have wider implications for a number of fields, including the history of science (many of the Society's interests are what we might today classify as scientific), museum studies, social history (especially in the development of epistolary networks between town and country) and local history.