In 1903, Inverness organized and hosted a grand exhibition on Highland culture and the Jacobites. The significance of this exhibition was the accumulation of over twelve hundred artifacts, most of which were never-before-seen family heirlooms from descendants of Jacobite families. With such a large collection, the organizers began to sell official catalogues, such as the one located above, to help visitors identify each artifact and navigate the exhibition. Not only were these catalogues practically helpful to visitors; they also provided a foundation for the exhibition creators who had planned to create a permanent museum focusing on Highland culture and the Jacobites once this exhibition had ended. The official catalogue, and the exhibition for which it was made, represents the shift to support a perspective of Jacobitism that extended reevaluations of the movement from the later eighteenth century and tied them in with tourism and civic development initiatives that promotes a narrative that both shaped and resonated with evolving ideas about the Highlands, the Jacobites, and the history of Scotland.
Official catalogue of exhibits : Highland & Jacobite Exhibition, Inverness, 1903 : Free Library and Science & Art Building, Inverness : open from 14th July to 26th September, 1903.Inverness, Scotland : Printed at the Northern Chronicle Office, 1903. xi, 112 p. : port.; 22 cm. Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library (S0357b02)
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