Ebook To Have and to Hold Philipp Blom 9781585675616 Books

Product details Paperback 288 pages Publisher Harry N. Abrams (June 1, 2004) Language English ISBN-10 158567561X

To Have and to Hold Philipp Blom 9781585675616 Books Reviews

• At first I thought this was going to be a survey of some eccentric collectors in history, on which is does not disappoint, but it turns out to be a lot richer and contain some real pearls of wisdom about life in general, and flashes of historical insight.
  
  Reading through the chapters of this book was a lot like rummaging through a private collectors cabinet of curiosities. The chapter titles alone don't provide direction and only after a few pages does it begin to reveal its treasure. Chapters cover aspects of collecting as diverse as people who collected experiences with women (Casanova), the collecting of body parts (religious relics), collecting memories, American billionaires who bought up European heritage (JP Morgan, Hearst), collectors of mass-produced items (milk bottles, food wrappers), Princes and Kings such as Rudolf of Hapsburg (17th C) who filled his castle with the worlds greatest collections and slowly went mad, collecting as a madness, as a substitute for love, as a form of autism, as psychology, as crime - and in the end, as a warning to all those who take it too far.
• A detailed, nuanced review of the history of collection since the sixteenth century as well as the reasons that make people collect. During a recent visit to London, it inspired me to visit one collection of whose existence I had not been aware before I read the book. I would have visited more, except that I did not have the time.
• quick delivery, as described -- AAA+++
• Very well written and interesting; helpful to me as an archivist and as a collector. Sellers very responsive when book not exactly as described; would by from them again w/no hesitation.
• An excellent study about an intriguing topic that concerns everyone to some extent the history and psychology of collecting.
  The book is filled with witty and informative anecdotes, which makes it immensely readable apart from being valuable as a scholarly work.
  I definitely recommend this book.
• Why do some people like to collect things? Here is a fascinating read about what makes the collector different from the average person, for not aways the same reason.
• An interesting read on how collecting started, at first with the Lordly and wealthy. The first collections were very general - in an age of universal wisdom and corresponding universal illiteracy! These early collections were everything - stones, plants, cadavers, art books... Later collectors became more specialized and in our current age more accessible. In fact everyone becomes a collector and everything collectible by mass production. Children become indoctrinated at an early age to collect.
  
  Some of the early chapters are somewhat esoteric.
  
  The author makes an interesting comparison between serious collections (or collectors) and autism - also between immortality and collections. The collection is the persons' view of utopia.
  
  Some good quotes
  Page 139 Collectors refute Gertrude Stein's claim `a rose is a rose is a rose' (Gertrude Stein was herself a collector)
  Page 157 The most important object of a collection is the next one
  Page 157 Conquest is followed by disillusionment and the necessity for further conquests
• This is a book that takes you on a fascinating journey, is an enjoyable read and is also historically well-researched, so it can therefore be used by the student or academic as a useful reference. I came upon it quite by accident but now find it a very useful addition to my bookshelf. The story of the Ashmolean Museum's foundation was one of my particular favourites and really made my blood boil! Such stories are not often told about museum collections! I take my hat off to the author!