Building media history from fragments: a material history of Philip Carpenter's manufacturing practice. Issue 4 (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Roberts, Phillip
• Is Part Of: Early popular visual culture. Volume 14:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 319
• Page End: 339
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: Magic lantern -- Philip Carpenter -- material history -- historical methodology; Cinematography -- History -- Periodicals; Visual communication -- History -- Periodicals; Image transmission -- History -- Periodicals; Photography -- History -- Periodicals; Popular culture -- History -- Periodicals; Entertainment events -- History -- Periodicals; 778.05
• DOI: 10.1080/17460654.2016.1222930
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-0654

Abstract

Abstract: This article will present methods for a material analysis of historical objects. I reflect on my own research practice and show how I use close study of objects and material fragments to reveal the manufacturing and retail infrastructures surrounding the instruments of early nineteenth-century optician, Philip Carpenter. I consider the methodologies of different media historians and suggest ways of expanding a focused material study into a broader historical framework. Finally, I use the work of historian Fernand Braudel to suggest methods for developing big histories that can answer larger structural and developmental questions beyond the focus of micro-historical frameworks.