A Noble Madness

A captivating history of obsessive collectors: from ancient looters and idolaters to fin de siecle decadents, Freudian psychos, and hoarders.

Collectors are often praised for their taste in art or contributions to science, but there can be a darker side: their passion is sometimes driven by dangerous obsession. Roman emperors who lusted after statues; Chinese scholars obsessed with rocks and flowers; fin de siecle dandies surrounded by bibelots. History is full of stories about those who love things more than people, presenting a danger either to themselves or others. In this sweeping history from antiquity to today, James Delbourgo tells the extraordinary story of the mad collector as a cultural figure from the tyrant and idolater to the sexually repressed "psycho" of the Freudian imagination and the modern-day hoarder. His conclusion is surprising: Because they are driven by passion rather than profit, obsessive collectors also have been cultural heroes, seen as authentic and true to themselves. Some may be mad, but theirs is a noble madness.

The word 'collecting' is often seen alongside the word 'mania,' but I never really understood just how intensely, wildly, hilariously and sometimes tragically obsessive true collectors can be until I read, in breathless wonder, James Delbourgo's magnificent A Noble Madness. A study of a certain kind of pathology, yes, but one that casts light on the whole history of ideas and the development of human curiosity and learning. This book is itself so compulsive and entertaining that I found myself wanting to collect the collectors whose lives and passions Delbourgo so brilliantly brings to life. Stephen Fry
A tour de force of scholarship and storytelling, James Delbourgo explores the obsessive side of a very human impulse, and in so doing brings new insight into something deep and enduringly important within ourselves. Daniel Weiss, Metropolitan Museum of Art President Emeritus
In this fascinating, witty, and provocative book, Delbourgo's collectors range from emperors to scientists, from shopaholics to taxonomists, from bibliomaniacs to serial killers. Some appalling and others appealing, his protagonists reveal the obsessive yet strangely noble impulses behind the drive to accumulate. Give it to the collector in your life, and watch the sparks fly! Cathy Gere, author of The Tomb of Agamemnon
I've seen the inside of James Delbourgo's New York apartment, and can report that it is surprisingly orderly, even minimalist. But the inside of his mind? What a dazzling cabinet of curiosities! He shows incontrovertibly in this mesmerizing new book the parallel between people's psyches and the objects they surround themselves with. From the high-end art collector to Jeffrey Dahmer's horrifying temple of human bones, nothing puts the human soul on display like collecting. I declare from my coffee-stained couch, surrounded by dirty plates, unopened mail, and more books than anyone could ever read, that A Noble Madness makes a fundamental contribution to the study of human psychology. Justin Smith-Ruiu, author of Irrationality: A History of the Dark Side of Reason
An extraordinarily illuminating account of a powerful cultural impulse, James Delbourgo's A Noble Madness ranges from ancient Rome and Ming China to Hearst's Hollywood and Warhol's New York; his cast of characters includes historical and fictional figures as various as Cicero and Darwin, Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter. We could not ask for a better guide to this fascinating territory than Delbourgo-a learned, urbane flaneur who wears his learning lightly while he provides fresh insights and ready wit on nearly every page. A Noble Madness is a delight to read and ponder, not to mention an exceptional achievement in cultural history. Jackson Lears, author of Animal Spirits: The American Pursuit of Vitality
Is a scientist plunging into a jungle in search of specimens really all that different from someone surreptitiously snipping passersby's hair to add to his very private collection? Delbourgo has great fun tackling this question by presenting a collection of collectors in a witty dash through the history of a deeply human urge. Erin Thompson, author of Possession: The Curious History of Private Collectors

James Delbourgo is recognized as the leading expert on the life and career of Sir Hans Sloane and a leading academic authority on the history of science and imperialism in the early modern world. Trained in the histories of science and empire at the University of Cambridge and Columbia University, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he is a tenured Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University, having previously taught at McGill University, Montreal, where he directed the program in History and Philosophy of Science. His first book, A Most Amazing Scene of Wonders: Electricity and Enlightenment in Early America (Harvard University Press, 2006), was awarded Harvard's Thomas J. Wilson Prize for the best first book in any field, and was runner-up for the Canadian Historical Association's Wallace K. Ferguson Prize. His Collecting the World: Hans Sloane and the Origins of the British Museum (2017), won the Leo Gershoy Award (AHA), Louis Gottschalk and Annibel Jenkins Prizes (ASECS), and the Hughes Prize (BSHS).

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