NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF PHILADELPHIA.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Seaman's Lyceum of Philadelphia. Scarce first and only edition of these directions for gathering and preserving natural history specimens, designed to encourage seafaring men to supply a prospective Seaman's Lyceum with exhibits. WorldCat and Library Hub record only two copies, at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Boston Public Library.The lyceum movement of adult education flourished in the north-east during the antebellum period. Many lyceums had a particular emphasis on science and technology in order to avoid the division that subjects such as religion and politics could engender. The advertisement for the 1839 annual meeting of the American Lyceum - held in Philadelphia - included the note that "all sects in religion and all parties in politics have equal rights and opportunities. Sectarian politics and sectarian religion to be emphatically and wholly excluded" (Hayes, p. 18).Philadelphia was the site of the Pennsylvania State Lyceum, founded in 1835, and was also home to the Academy of Natural Sciences, the oldest natural science museum in the Americas, founded in 1812. Its aptitude for such a venture is neatly summed up by the pamphlet: "The extensive commerce of Philadelphia, and the general intelligence of her naval officers and captains of vessels, are such as to warrant a belief that the attempt would be eminently successful".

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