Goldfish in the Parlour: The Victorian craze for marine life

The Victorian obsession with marine animals led to the building of public aquariums, home aquariums, and the craze for visiting the seaside. John Simons' book explores how people saw and met animals in institutions and contexts, and the consequences of this obsession.

Format: Paperback / softback
Publication date: 01 January 2023
Publisher: Sydney University Press

For the first time, fish became our companions, and a corner of many a Victorian parlor was given over to housing tiny fragments of their world enclosed in glass. The experience of seeing a fish swimming in a glass tank is one we take for granted now, but in Victorian England, this was a remarkable sight. People had simply not been able to see fish as they could with the invention of the aquarium and everything that went with it. Goldfish in the Parlour looks at the Victorian-era boom in the building of public aquariums, as well as the craze for home aquariums and visiting the seaside. Furthermore, this book considers how people see and meet animals and, importantly, in what institutions and in what contexts these encounters happen. John Simons uncovers the sweeping consequences of the Victorian obsession with marine animals by looking at naturalist Frank Buckland's Museum of Economic Fish Culture and the role of fish in the Victorian economy, the development of angling as a sport divided along class lines, the seeding of the Empire with British fish, and comparisons with aquarium building in Europe, the USA, and Australia. Goldfish in the Parlour interrogates the craze that took over Victorian England when aquariums introduced fish to parks, zoos, and parlors.

For the first time, fish became our companions, and a corner of many a Victorian parlor was given over to housing tiny fragments of their world enclosed in glass. The experience of seeing a fish swimming in a glass tank is one we take for granted now, but in Victorian England, this was a remarkable sight. People had simply not been able to see fish as they could with the invention of the aquarium and everything that went with it. Goldfish in the Parlour looks at the Victorian-era boom in the building of public aquariums, as well as the craze for home aquariums and visiting the seaside. Furthermore, this book considers how people see and meet animals and, importantly, in what institutions and in what contexts these encounters happen. John Simons uncovers the sweeping consequences of the Victorian obsession with marine animals by looking at naturalist Frank Buckland's Museum of Economic Fish Culture and the role of fish in the Victorian economy, the development of angling as a sport divided along class lines, the seeding of the Empire with British fish, and comparisons with aquarium building in Europe, the USA, and Australia. Goldfish in the Parlour interrogates the craze that took over Victorian England when aquariums introduced fish to parks, zoos, and parlors.

Weight: 446g
Dimension: 148 x 210 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781743328729