Virtual reality and subjective responses: Narrating the search for the Franklin expedition through Robert Burford’s panorama
2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 10; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/17460654.2012.637391
ISSN1746-0662
Autores Tópico(s)Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
ResumoAbstract This article examines the scientific and political context of the production, exhibition and reception of a single panorama, Robert Burford’s Summer and Winter Views of the Polar Regions (1850). This panorama represented the first Admiralty-sponsored search for John Franklin’s missing expedition, which had departed in 1845 and expected to cross the Northwest Passage. Burford clearly collaborated with the Admiralty, acquiring permission to base the panorama on sketches taken by Lieutenant William Browne, an officer on the expedition. Burford repaid the Admiralty by supporting their current endeavours in the Arctic through both panorama and programme. However, the many reviews of this popular panorama reveal that viewers did not necessarily agree with Burford and that multiple interpretations of this panorama were extant. Detailed examination of the context of this single exhibition suggests that a reassessment of the influence the proprietors of such exhibitions held over their viewers is necessary. It also suggests that collaborations between proprietors of visual entertainments and organizations such as the Admiralty were probably deeper and more widespread than previously acknowledged. Keywords: panoramasLeicester Square RotundaArctic exploration (1800–1899)John FranklinJames Clark RossRobert BurfordWilliam Browne Notes 1. ‘The panorama of Constantinople’, The Times, 28 March 1846, p. 7. 2. See Frederick William Beechey, A Voyage of Discovery towards the North Pole, performed in His Majesty’s Ships Dorothea and Trent, under the command of Capt. David Buchan, R.N., 1818; to which is added, a summary of all the early attempts to reach the Pacific by way of the Pole (London: Bentley, 1843). 3. ‘The Arctic regions’, The Leader, 7 June 1851, p. 543. 4. ‘Miscellaneous’, Examiner, 5 January 1850, p. 10. 5. ‘Mr Burford’s panorama’, The Times, 11 February 1850, p. 8. 6. ‘London gossip’, Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal 1850, vol. 325, pp. 187–9. 7. ‘Panorama of the polar regions’, Literary Gazette, 16 February 1850, p. 130. 8. ‘The drama and public amusements’, Critic 1850, vol. 9, no. 218, pp. 229–30.
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