Cabinets of Curiosities [Hardcover]

Patrick Mauries (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2002

Unicorns' horns, mermaids' skeletons, beautiful minerals, monstrous births, insects in amber, wax effigies, mysterious fossils, corals in fantastic shapes, death-masks, ivory carvings, automata that imitated living things, jewellery, work in precious metals, clocks, musical instruments, lenses, scientific instruments, terrestrial and celestial globes - all knowledge, the cosmos arranged on shelves, in cupboards, or hanging from the ceiling. Such were the cabinets of curiosities of the 17th century. This volume traces the history of these "rooms of wonders" 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. Patrick Mauries reconstructs these rooms as they were in their heyday and illustrates many of the most exotic items they contained, as well as the few complete interiors that survive. He begins with the totality of the collection, the cosmos in miniature, the whole sum of human knowledge gathered together in one room. He then looks at the cabinets that contained and categorized the objects. Next he opens them to reveal the extraordinary melange of curiosities, specimens and works of art. He also looks at the personalities of the collectors themselves, from great princes to humble scholars, and finally at the modern revival of the cabinet of curiosities among both artists and public, a strong current in contemporary culture. Looking back in time to the remarkable collections formed by the early museum creators, Patrick Mauries's illustrated study explains how the modern museum came to be.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this sumptuously illustrated volume, Mauries (Jean Cocteau) presents the long history of cabinets of curiosities-grand accumulations of rare, exotic, or unusual objects either natural or human-made, displayed in decorative cases or entire rooms. The earliest documented case, from late 15th-century Italy, was a collection of books as well as a variety of botanical and zoological specimens (including a stuffed crocodile). Collections have also included textiles, scientific and musical instruments, ethnographic objects, automata, paintings, silverware, and mummified anatomical specimens. That the fascination with collecting-as well as with organizing these collections in some artistic fashion-has continued through the centuries is evident in the "shadow boxes" by 20th-century artists such as Joseph Cornell. In many ways, this book is a cabinet of curiosities in itself-crammed with fascinating images and information. While the images are the book's strength (the author is affiliated with the beautifully illustrated Italian journal FMR), some are used as background to the text, thereby either obscuring or being obscured by the printed page. Even worse, some lack captions or have captions that are erroneous. In addition, the book suffers from not having an adequate index or a glossary to help with the many foreign and esoteric terms used. Although the book is fun to browse through, it shouldn't be considered a necessary purchase.
Margaret Gross, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A suitably lavish history of collections. -- Newsday.com, 1 December 2002

One of those rare books that rescues an exciting but apparently abstruse subject from the past. -- Antiques & Collecting, January 2003

Packed with illustrations that emphasize the eclectic nature of these cabinets. -- Courier Times, 29 December, 2002

Sumptuously illustrated. -- Library Journal, December 2002

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500510911
• ISBN-13: 978-0500510919
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,570,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curiosity Satisfied, December 1, 2002

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cabinets of Curiosities (Hardcover)

It is a chaotic world out there. It would be nice to bring that chaotic world in to a room, or even into a cabinet, and sort it all out, top to bottom. There have been those who have tried this, collectors who aspired to gathering parts of the world that would sum it all up, and place them together so that those parts could reflect upon each other. This quixotic aim is beautifully depicted in a big illustrated book, _Cabinets of Curiosities_ (Thames & Hudson) by Patrick Mauriès. You can look at the lavish illustrations here, and gain a bit of understanding of the obsessions of the collector, and you might look around your own relatively meager curios, and recognize some envy.

Mauriès speculates that the precursors of such cabinets were the relic collections in medieval churches. Such collections might have started with supposed pieces of saints or of the True Cross, but eventually included bizarre tangents like a vial of milk from the breast of the Virgin, or the rod used by Moses. The magical air of such a collection, but these cabinets were secular, built not by monks, but by kings and other wealthy men. As collectors perfected their assemblies, they sought out rarities, and this tended to make the collections full of idiosyncratic freaks. These sorts of marvels were to fill the viewer with wonder, but tastes in such things change. As the eighteenth century approached, wonder itself was regarded as a "low, bumptious form of pleasure," a credulousness which was out of place with scientific enquiry. Mauriès demonstrates that even though the collectors tried to emphasize relationships between the items in the cabinets, the surrealists were equally good at assembling items whose conjunctions would be without meaning. There is a picture of the surrealists' exhibition in Paris in 1936, and although the cabinet is metal and glass, it contains found objects, bones, and mathematical sculptures that any curiosity collector would have valued.

Mauriès's tour of strange collections of strange objects is great fun. His chapters about the history and fate of such collections, and the personalities that engaged in them, reflect a deeply intellectual appreciation. But _Cabinets of Curiosities_ is a picture book. There are reproductions of old prints showing how the collections used to look, as well as photographs of cabinets which still remain, and the strange objects of desire that filled them. It makes a good-looking volume. Pictures here include the cherry pit carved with thirty miniscule heads; ivory worked into seemingly impossible spirals, linked rings, and spheres within spheres; a jeweled cup with dragons horns (which are actually warthog tusks); portraits of "cat people" abnormally covered with hair; mechanical insects; and much more. Beautifully laid out, these pages are curious, indeed.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a guide to treasures that is a visual treat, July 8, 2003

By 

Merrily Baird (atlanta, ga USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cabinets of Curiosities (Hardcover)

Patrick Mauries' "Cabinets of Curiosities" is a study of rooms of wonder. Built during the Baroque Age in Europe, these rooms--sometimes large chambers and in other cases simply elaborate cabinets--held the natural and mechanical treasures that wealthy collectors assembled, often in an attempt to structure for themselves an entire universe. Consistent with the sumptuous nature of these collections and the complex manner in which they were displayed, "Cabinets of Curiosities" is distinguished above all by its color photography, its complex design scheme, and a use of cropping and perspective that give the reader a sense of personally entering the collection spaces shown.

Because of its size, focus on photography, and price, "Cabinets of Curiosities" could easily be dismissed as a coffee-table book for the few. However, its appeal should be broader. The instinct to collect and to categorize-- even if it involves only seashells found on the beach, leaves fallen in a forest, or unusual stones found around the home-- is universal. Transcending time and space, collecting and categorizing are fundamental in particular to the sense of wonder and process of learning that define childhood.

"Cabinets of Curiosities" can help us to see anew and celebrate anew the complexities and fascination of the animate and inanimate worlds about us. In these circumstances, it is particularly disappointing that the text is so lightweight in comparison to the photographs and that the confusing movement among typefaces makes it difficult to track the text. Mauries is to be congratulated for his bold thinking in fashioning this book and making it so beautiful. If he had devoted an equal amount of effort to researching, explaining, and documenting his subject matter, "Cabinets of Curiosities" would have risen to the ranks of a publishing classic.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous, but...., June 18, 2007

By 

Flora Fauna (Western Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cabinets of Curiosities (Hardcover)

Oh for a copy editor. This is a beautiful book, a delight to the senses. But the text contains too many careless errors. Mauries misspells, for example, both the name Linnaeus and the title of his famous book, Systema Naturae.