The Confessions of a Collector

An autobiographical account by a lifelong collector traces his development of tastes, early family influences, and the habits and risks involved in acquiring books, coins, and curiosities. It interweaves personal anecdotes of bargains, discoveries, and relations with fellow collectors and dealers, while discussing cataloguing work, bibliographical projects, and close studies of rare items. The narrative reflects on the temperament that sustains collecting, the economics and ethics of the trade, and practical tests of condition and provenance. Alongside reminiscence, chapters survey notable collections and the pleasures and methods of bibliographical scholarship as part of the driven pursuit of scarce and curious objects.