CABINETS OF CURIOSITY

Back to the MUSÆUM

On Collectors, Collections and Collecting


. 		Ulisse Aldrovandi, 1522-1605
Studied law, philosophy, logic and mathematics at the universities of Bologna and Padua, and established one of the most acclaimed curiosity cabinets in European history, containing more than 18,000 specimens.

. 		Il Teatro della Natura, Bologna
A reconstruction of Aldrovandi's cabinet, 'Il Teatro della Natura.'

. 		The John Tradescants (Elder, 1570-1638; Younger, 1608-1662)
Travellers, diplomats, polymaths, and horticultural pioneers, they collected wonders of the world and displayed them in a large house in South Lambeth, London, named "The Ark."

. 		Ole Worm, 1588-1654
Born in Århus, Denmark, Worm was a physician, chemist, an expert on ancient Danish runes, and the founder of a large collection, the Museum Wormianum, that was later purchased by King Frederick III.

. 		Manfredo Settala, 1600-1680
'The Archimedes of Milan,' born into a noble family, widely traveled, and fascinated with collecting curiosities.

. 		Settala's Wunderkammer
Images from a 1660s catalogue of Settala's 3000 specimens.

. 		Athanasius Kircher, SJ, 1602-1680
Established his Museum Kircherianum in Rome in the 1670s, to house his large collection of curiosities and inventions.

. 		Sir Thomas Browne, 1605-1682
Author of the Musaeum Clausum ('Sealed Museum'), also known as Bibliotheca abscondita, a collection of short descriptions of supposed, rumoured or lost fictional books, pictures and objects.

. 		Albertus Seba (1665-1736)
Apothecary and collector of natural curiosities, and resident of Amsterdam, who built several collections of natural phenomena, one of which he sold to Peter the Great.

. 		Albertus Seba - Engravings
Some examples of plates from Seba's Locupletissimi Rerum Naturalium Thesauri, a four-volume catalogue of his collection.

. 		Peter the Great (1672-1725)
Acquirer of both individual curiosities and also whole collections, which he displayed in 'Peter's Kunstkamera' in the royal palace in St. Petersburg.

. 		The King's Kunstkammer, Denmark (1680-1725)
The collection of King Frederick III, originally housed in Copenhagen Castle.

. 		The Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen
A history of the museum, which has roots in Ole Worm's Museum Wormianum and Frederik III's Kunstkammer.

. 		The Augsburg Art Cabinet, Sweden (early 18th C)
Carved by Philipp Hainhofer in the German city of Augsburg for the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus, the Augsburg cabinet held 1000 items.

. 		Sir John Soane (1753-1837)
Born the son of a bricklayer, Soane became a famous architect, and in the 1830s opened a public museum and library in his house in London.

. 		'Collectors Cabinets' - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Examples of collectors' cabinets from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

. 		Cabinet de Curiosités
Introduction to and examples of cabinets of curiosities (French language).

. 		The Smithsonian Museum of Museums
Illustrations and prints of early museums.

. 		Mathematical Cabinets
Mathematical Wunderkammern, an article by William Mueller, first published in the American Mathematical Monthly in 2001.

. 		Walter Benjamin
Benjamin's Unpacking My Library, a meditation on collecting books.

. 		Joseph Cornell
Cornell's boxes are usually glass-fronted, in which he has arranged surprising collections of photographs or Victorian bric-à-brac.

. 		The Museum of Jurassic Technology, Los Angeles
"The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, California is an educational institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and the public appreciation of the Lower Jurassic."

. 		The Invisible Library
A collection of books that only appear in other books ... imaginary books, pseudobiblia, artifictions, fabled tomes, libris phantastica, and all manner of books unwritten, unread, unpublished, and unfound.

. 		'Devices of Wonder' - Getty Museum, Los Angeles
An exhibition of the ancestors of modern cinema, cyborgs, and other optical devices.

. 		'Collecting for the Kuntskammer' - Metropolitan Museum, New York
"Collecting the extraordinary and mysterious had been part of human evolution since time immeasurable": A short history of collecting and collections, by Wolfram Koeppe, Metropolitan Museum, New York.