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

Philipp Blom

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. 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.

Blom's debut work of non-fiction delves into the history of the collecting passion and explores it through a series of interlinked portraits, stories and discoveries, each characteristic of its period. What emerges is the story of a human quest more intimately linked with our primal needs than many would have thought possible.

Publishers:

UK - Penguin Press
US - Overlook
Germany - Eichborn / Die Andere Bibliothek
Brazil - Distribudora Record
Korea - Dongnyouk

Other titles by the same author

Wines of Austria, The

Encyclopédie: The Triumph of Reason in an Unreasonable Age

Vertigo Years, The