Contrary to general traditional belief, the origins of collecting, as a systematic activity that refers to the satisfaction of symbolic rather than actual needs, was not an invention of the Renaissance. Collecting made its first appearance in European prehistory, was a subject of interest and debate for the ancient Greeks and Romans, and has been present continuously ever since. The books in this series are intended to discuss the phenomena of collecting from ancient times to the modern day. They seek to cast light, not only on the types objects that have been collected, but also on how such objects were acquired, and the political, social and personal motivations for creating collections.
By Alexandra Bounia
October 28, 2004
The phenomenon of collecting as a systematic activity undertaken for symbolic rather than actual needs, is traditionally taken to originate in the middle of the fifteenth century, when the first cabinets of curiosities appear in Italy. Yet it is clear that the practice of collecting started long ...
By Ken Arnold
December 28, 2005
The last few years has, within museums, witnessed nothing short of a revolution. Worried that the very institution was itself in danger of becoming a dusty, forgotten, culturally irrelevant exhibit, vigorous efforts have been made to reshape the museum mission. Fearing that history was coming to be...
By Allison Karmel Thomason
October 28, 2005
Utilizing a variety of ancient sources, including cuneiform texts, images and archaeological finds, Luxury and Legitimation explores how the collecting of luxury objects contributed to the formation of royal identity in one of the world's oldest civilizations, ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). ...
By Christopher Whitehead
April 28, 2005
During the mid-nineteenth century a debate arose over the form and functions of the public art museum in Britain. Various occurrences caused new debates in Parliament and in the press about the purposes of the public museum which checked the relative complacency with which London's national ...
By Susan Pearce, Rosemary Flanders, Fiona Morton
November 10, 2016
The Collector’s Voice is a major four-volume project which brings together in accessible form material relevant to the history and practice of collecting in the European tradition from c. 1500 BC to the present day. The series demonstrates how attitudes to objects, the collecting of objects, and ...
By Susan Pearce, Rosemary Flanders, Fiona Morton
December 31, 2000
The Collector’s Voice is a major four-volume project which brings together in accessible form material relevant to the history and practice of collecting in the European tradition from c. 1500 BC to the present day. The series demonstrates how attitudes to objects, the collecting of objects, and ...
By Susan Pearce, Rosemary Flanders, Fiona Morton
August 27, 2002
The Collector’s Voice is a major four-volume project which brings together in accessible form material relevant to the history and practice of collecting in the European tradition from c. 1500 BC to the present day. The series demonstrates how attitudes to objects, the collecting of objects, and ...
By Susan Pearce, Rosemary Flanders, Fiona Morton
November 10, 2016
The Collector’s Voice is a major four-volume project which brings together in accessible form material relevant to the history and practice of collecting in the European tradition from c. 1500 BC to the present day. The series demonstrates how attitudes to objects, the collecting of objects, and ...
By Susan Pearce, Rosemary Flanders, Fiona Morton
August 28, 2004
The Collector’s Voice is a major four-volume project which brings together in accessible form material relevant to the history and practice of collecting in the European tradition from c. 1500 BC to the present day. The series demonstrates how attitudes to objects, the collecting of objects, and ...