A Charlatan's Album: Cartes-de-visite from Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay (1860-1880)

Abstract

In 1998, when we began to reorganize the historic archive of the Museum of La Plata in Argentina, manuscripts, letters, and photographs all started to resurface from different departments of the institution. Missed, lost, misplaced, forgotten, discharged or withdrawn from everyday use, they had been rescued from the dustbin by diligent staff members. When the historic archive opened to the public, many of them realized that the memorabilia they had kept on the shelves and desk drawers of their offices could finally have a permanent home. They donated these remnants of past scientific practices to the archive, knowing they would now be kept for future generations.