Objects, Histories and Encounters

British Guiana Seen Through Balata

Autores

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21664/2238-8869.2018v7i1.p124-141

Palavras-chave:

Balata, Guiana Britânica, Everard im Thurn (1852-1932), George Samuel Jenman (1845-1902)

Resumo

A árvore da balata foi conhecida como sendo uma das melhores árvores florestais da Guiana Britânica. Este artigo baseia-se em relatos dos séculos XIX e XX, publicações, jornais e correspondência sobre a balata da Guiana Britânica, um material semelhante à borracha. Estas referências foram cruzadas com objectos relacionados com a balata que se encontram na colecção de Botânica Económica, nos Jardins de Kew, e relatórios contemporâneos de ameríndios guianenses. Ao se cruzar estas informações, surgiu uma imagem mais clara da balata, bem como das histórias por detrás desta matéria-prima, nomeadamente: os encontros interculturais, o significado dos objectos e seu contexto, e como a colónia estava a ser gerida na época. Também se chegou à conclusão de que, apesar de a balata ter sido vista, durante os últimos anos do século XIX, como uma comodidade alternativa e uma possível resposta à crise do açúcar, não houve grande investimento para melhorar o seu comércio.

Biografia do Autor

Sara Albuquerque, IHC - Instituto de História Contemporânea, CEHFCi da Universidade de Évora, Portugal.

Sara Albuquerque concluded her PhD in History of Science at Birkbeck College, University of London in 2013 (FCT Grant ref.SFRH/BD/45965/2008). At present she is a FCT Post-Doc researcher at IHC-CEHFCi-Universidade de Évora in the Project “Botanical Exchanges and Networks of Knowledge: Friedrich Welwitsch’s African Expedition, Iter Angolense (1853 – 1860)” (FCT Grant ref. SFRH/BPD/108236/2015). She worked previously at the Natural History Museum in London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as a researcher. Received two awards, a tribute (Honorary Research Associate, Kew) and is a fellow of the Linnean Society of London. Works in the areas of natural sciences and humanities, with particular interest in: history of science, collections of natural history, museology, material culture, botany, economic botany, networks of knowledge and cross-cultural encounters.

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MANUSCRIPTS
RBG, Kew, Directors Correspondence, KLDC11683, Letter from G.S. [George Samuel] Jenman to [Sir William Thiselton-Dyer], from Government Botanist’s Office, Georgetown, British Guiana [Guyana], 4 June 1884, folios 446-447.
RBG, Kew, Directors Correspondence, KLDC11684, Letter from G.S. [George Samuel] Jenman to Sir William Thiselton-Dyer, from Government Botanist’s Office, Georgetown, British Guiana [Guyana], 5 June 1884, folio 448.
RBG, Kew, Directors Correspondence, KLDC11685, Letter from G.S. [George Samuel] Jenman to Sir William Thiselton-Dyer, from Government Botanist’s Office, Georgetown, British Guiana [Guyana], 25 June 1884, folio 449.
RBG, Kew, Directors Correspondence, KLDC11687, Letter from G.S. [George Samuel] Jenman to [Sir William Thiselton-Dyer], from Government Botanist’s Office, Georgetown, British Guiana [Guyana], 25 August, folios 451-452.
RBG, Kew, Directors Correspondence, KLDC11693, Letter from G.S. [George Samuel] Jenman to The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, from 12 Panton Street, Cambridge [England], 2 May 1885, folio 458.
RBG, Kew, Directors Correspondence, KLDC11703, Letter from G.S. [George Samuel] Jenman to The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, from Government Botanist's Office, Georgetown, Demerara [Guyana], 19 February 1886, folio 469.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK [RBG, Kew], Directors Correspondence, KLDC11582, Letter from Everard F. [Ferdinand] im Thurn to [Sir William Thiselton-Dyer], from Georgetown [Guyana], 25 May 1882, folio 301.

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2018-05-11

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ALBUQUERQUE, Sara. Objects, Histories and Encounters: British Guiana Seen Through Balata. Fronteira: Journal of Social, Technological and Environmental Science, [S. l.], v. 7, n. 1, p. 124–141, 2018. DOI: 10.21664/2238-8869.2018v7i1.p124-141. Disponível em: https://revistas2.unievangelica.edu.br/index.php/fronteiras/article/view/2753. Acesso em: 21 nov. 2024.

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Seção

Dossiê - História, Ciência e Natureza