Travel guides and travelogues as sources to examine the collector’s role in art and heritage preservation : the case of Belgium (ca. 1780-1914)

During the long nineteenth century Belgium was home to a remarkably large number of private art and antiques collections. Many of those were visited by an interested local and international public and were popular topics in contemporary travel literature. Based on an in-depth examination of historical travel guides and travelogues, this contribution aims to further our understanding of the nineteenth-century private collector. Which information did this group of sources provide about the character of Belgium's foremost artistic centers Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent as places of private collecting, and about the individual practices of local collectors on a micro-level? How did the description of the collectors, of their number, focus and motivations, as well as of the function and importance of their collections evolve over the course of the century? In answering these questions, this contribution aspires to shed light on how the specific role of the private collector was assessed within the urban art and antiquarian circles in nineteenth-century Belgium.

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