Cabinets of Curiosities

Unicorns'horns,mermaids'skeletons,stuffedandpreservedanimalsandplants,workinpreciousmetals,clocks,scientificinstruments,celestialglobes...allknowledge,thewholecosmosarrangedonshelves.Suchwerethecabinetsofcuriositiesoftheseventeenthcentury,thelastperiodofhistorywhenmancouldaspiretoknoweverything.Whowerethecollectors?Theywerearchdukesandkings-theEmperorRudolfIIwastheprinceofallcollectors-richmerchantsandscholars,andtheircollectionsrangedfromasinglecrowdedroomtowholepalatialsuites.PatrickMaurie`stracestheamazinghistoryofthese"roomsofwonders"inthisingeniouslyeruditesurvey.Notmanyoftheroomssurvive,thoughtherearepictorialrecords,buttheircontentsstillexistandareamongthetreasuresofmuseumsallovertheworld.