The Origins of Museums: The Cabinet of Curiosities in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Europe

Present-day museums are almost as diverse in character as the collections that they contain, yet all are united by a historical thread leading back to a common origin in collections of "curiousities" in 16th and 17th-century Europe. In this unique, thorough account of the history of collecting, 35 noted authors discuss museums and their methods and sources of acquisitions, and the principles they used in cataloguing, publishing, and display.