A Noble Madness - The Dark Side of Collecting from Antiquity to Now

Collectors are often praised for their taste in art or contributions to science, but there can be a darker side: their passion is sometimes driven by dangerous obsession. Roman emperors who lusted after statues; Chinese scholars obsessed with rocks and flowers; fin de siècle dandies surrounded by bibelots. History is full of stories about those who love things more than people, presenting a danger either to themselves or others. In this sweeping history from antiquity to today, James Delbourgo tells the extraordinary story of the mad collector as a cultural figure from the tyrant and idolater to the sexually repressed "psycho" of the Freudian imagination and the modern-day hoarder. His conclusion is surprising: Because they are driven by passion rather than profit, obsessive collectors also have been cultural heroes, seen as authentic and true to themselves. Some may be mad, but theirs is a noble madness.

About the author

James Delbourgo is the James Westfall Thompson Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers University. He previously taught at McGill and Harvard, and is author of the prize-winning Collecting the World: Hans Sloane and the Origins of the British Museum. He lives in New York.

Product details

• Authors: James Delbourgo, Delbourgo James
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 12.08.2025
• EAN: 9780393541960
• ISBN: 978-0-393-54196-0
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 502 g
• Illustrations: 30 illustrations
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Cultural Studies, ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES / General, HISTORY / Civilization, Sociology: customs & traditions, HISTORY / World, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs & Traditions, General & world history, Social and cultural history, Antiques & collectables, General and world history, Cultural studies: customs and traditions, Antiques, vintage and collectables