Cabinets of Curiosities (Hardback)

Patrick Mauries (author)

£29.95

Hardback 256 Pages / Published: 12/09/2011

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Synopsis

All knowledge, the cosmos arranged on shelves, in cupboards, or hanging from the ceiling, 'infinite riches in a little room' - such were the cabinets of curiosities of the 17th century. This survey, now available in PLC, traces the amazing history of cabinets of curiosities, from their first appearance in the inventories and engravings commissioned by Renaissance nobles such as the Medici or the Hapsburgs, via those of the Dane Ole Wurm and the Italian polymath Athanasius Kircher, to the serious 17th- and 18th-century scientists Elias Ashmole and Levinas Vincent.

Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
ISBN: 9780500515945
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 1780 g
Dimensions: 305 x 225 x 30 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

'Superb ... extremely erudite ... lavishly and beautifully illustrated, showing so many strange things that you can only marvel and stare at them in wide-eyed wonder' - Herald
'Captivating ... Just to read about the chaos of these cabinets, let alone look at the many beautiful images selected by Mauries, is dizzying ... offers the kind of historical unity of which the early collectors, with their wonderful curiosity and lust for affinity, would have been proud' - The Times Higher Education Supplement
'... a pleasure and an education in itself' - Country Life
'Collectors, magpies, historians, art lovers and fans of the weird and wonderful will find this book captivating' - The Jeweller