Christine Davenne

As a book designer, I can't help being annoyed by some of the design of this book, the abrupt contents and layout for one, but the cover and photography is wonderful and the writing interesting. The heavy emphasis on French collectors is a bit unbalanced and I have to wonder at the omission of certain collectors like Axel Vervoordt. I especially liked the reference to Walter Benjamin's article "Unpacking My Library."

The history of curiosity cabinets that focused on science, botany, marine life or often a mixture of all things exotic and strange. Many of the cabinets are actually rooms or even whole homes, and the age ranges from collections that are more than 300 hundred years old to a few that are currently being built or artists that make pieces that harken to the days of curiosity collections.
To be honest, the sight of many of the collections is pretty gross: embalmed bodies clearly had their show more admirers. I much prefer the seashells and sculptures. show less

Perfection.