To Have and to Hold : An Intimate History of Collectors and Collecting

The acquisition of objects is close to the heart of what it is to be human. In the world of the collector this acquisition is divorced from utility, becoming its own, endlessly varied justification. Philipp Blom examines the various causes and forms of the collecting impulse, from the joy of identifying and satisfying a need to possess, to the creation of comforting taxonomies.