The English As Collectors: A Documentary Sourcebook

Reprint of the original edition, with corrections and a lengthy new introduction. This book is a unique and important source of information for those interested in the history of famous collections. Not only is the importance of collecting a growing factor in the history of art and antiques, but the details of provenance of objects traded on the art and antiques market are vital. In effect, the author has gone to the most revealing sources to produce a history of collecting in England and a study of the gradual emergence of the museum as a national institution. ENGLISH AS COLLECTORS also offers interesting and compelling insight into the private lives of great collectors whose acquisitions became the nucleus of the foremost museums of Great Britain. Through 96 rare illustrations and 75 collector profiles, Herrmann goes behind the scenes to capture the drive, enthusiasm, and eccentricities of these patrons of the arts. In addition, this revised and expanded edition contains a useful and detailed bibliography of collecting history. Since its first publication, ENGLISH AS COLLECTORS has become a classic in its field, and the first edition is now highly sought after. No other publication with so much detail has appeared to rival Herrmann's pioneering work. This volume is kept as a ready reference by those entrusted with the care of major private and public collections as well as those who organize exhibitions. This new edition has been issued because of continuing demand, and the author has contributed a well-written new introduction, brilliantly summarizing the state of private and "official" collecting today. Frank Herrmann is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and the author of a Sotheby's history: SOTHEBY'S: PORTRAIT OF AN AUCTION HOUSEand THE NORTON-SIMON MUSEUM. 509 pages. cloth, dust jacket.. tall 8vo..