Bureaucracy, Instructions, and Paperwork – The Gathering of Data about the Three Kingdoms of Nature in the Americas, 1770-1815

PODGORNY, IRINA

Nuevo mundo mundos nuevos

Mondes Américains

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2019

<!-- /* Font Definitions */@font-face{font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝";mso-font-charset:78;mso-generic-font-family:auto;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 18 0 131231 0;}@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:auto;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Cambria;panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:auto;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝";mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;}@page WordSection1{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 2.0cm 70.85pt;mso-header-margin:36.0pt;mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;mso-paper-source:0;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}--> By observing several episodes during the late Colonial period and the earlydecades of thenineteenth century, this paper describes that system ofproduction and circulation of knowledge linked to bureaucracy and the Atlantictrade. Based on primary sources fromthe General Archive of the Indies (AGI),the General Archive of the Nation (Argentina-AGN), the Archive of the RoyalCollege of Surgeons (London-RCS), and on secondary bibliography, in particularthe work of Javier I. Sánchez Almazán on Pedro Franco Dávila?s Instructions forthe Royal Cabinet of Madrid, this article, rather than focus on theobjectscollected, considers the documents that resulted from the ?necessity? ofcollecting minerals, plants and animals. In this way, it reveals the trueprotagonists of this story: the pathways of bureaucracy and the flow ofpaperwork where data about nature and man in the Americas were generated andtook shape. There, on official stationery, theinstructions and networksestablished by the offices for remote governance would appear along with yetunknown animals, plants, rivers, ancient cities and islands. What expectationsdid this world of papers and bureaucracy create so that the agents of theroyalservice would go out to collect plants, minerals, and animals? This question becomesmore significant after the overthrow of the Colonial administration because thesepeople continued with the same activities despite the fact that thoseexpectations could no longer be met.