To have and to hold - Philipp Blom

From amassing sacred relics to collecting
celebrity memorabilia, the impulse to hoard has gripped humankind throughout
the centuries. But what is it that drives people to possess objects that have
no conceivable use? To Have and To Hold is a captivating tour of
collectors and their treasures from medieval times to the present, from a
cabinet containing unicorn horns and a Tsar's collection of teeth to the
macabre art of embalmer Dr. Frederick Ruysch, the fabled castle of William
Randolph Hearst, and the truly preoccupied men who stockpile food wrappers and
plastic cups. An engrossing story of the collector as bridegroom, deliriously,
obsessively happy, wed to his possessions, till death do us part.