'A magisterial rethinking of why we collect. I loved this book' Edmund de Waal 'Magnificent .
. . so compulsive and entertaining' Stephen Fry 'Give it to the collector in your life and
watch sparks fly!' Cathy Gere 'A delight to read and ponder' Jackson Lears 'A tour de force
of scholarship and storytelling' Daniel Weiss A captivating history of obsessive collectors:
from ancient looters and idolaters to fin de siècle decadents Freudian psychos and hoarders.
Collectors are often praised for their taste in art or contributions to science but there can
be a darker side: their passion is sometimes driven by dangerous obsession. Roman emperors who
lusted after statues Chinese scholars obsessed with rocks and flowers fin de siècle dandies
surrounded by bibelots. History is full of stories about those who love things more than people
presenting a danger either to themselves or others. In this sweeping history from antiquity
to today James Delbourgo tells the extraordinary story of the mad collector as a cultural
figure from the tyrant and idolater to the sexually repressed "psycho" of the Freudian
imagination and the modern-day hoarder. His conclusion is surprising: Because they are driven
by passion rather than profit obsessive collectors also have been cultural heroes seen as
authentic and true to themselves. Some may be mad but theirs is a noble madness.
