To Have And To Hold An Intimate History Of Collectors And Collecting
Author: Philipp Blom
Stock information
General Fields
: 40.00 AUD
: 9780713994766
: Penguin Books
: Allen Lane
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: 01 January 2002
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: 40.0
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: books
Special Fields
: Philipp Blom
: Hardback with dustjacket
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: 274
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9780713994766
Description
Collecting is one of the most common pastimes, and can often become a passion bordering on the obsessive. Our familiarity with this pursuit, however, obscures the questions at its very heart: why do people amass things that have no use? What drives them to spend time and money getting hold of a single stamp or a rare doll, only to put it in a folder or on a shelf? Why do we feel a need to possess these items, and why is it not enough to know that they exist in a museum, or somewhere else?
In this scintillating book, Philipp Blom delves into the history of the collecting passion and explores it through a series of interlinked portraits, stories and discoveries, each characteristic of a period. What emerges is the story of a human quest more intimately linked with our primal needs than many would have thought possible.