Sounds like a cabinets of wonder sort of thing.

A good short article can be found at
http://www.harvard-magazine.com/issues/ja98/right.wonder.html
<http://www.harvard-magazine.com/issues/ja98/right.wonder.html>

Also, I'd recommend reading Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder by Lawrence
Weschler (New York : Pantheon 1995 ) if you haven't already

-----Original Message-----
From: daan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2000 10:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: social history of objects


for my final thesis museology i am doing research on the collectors of a
specific collection in a Dutch museum, among other objectives to determine
the subjectivity of collections present in museums. I would like to ask this
list for suggestions on literature on this subject. i am especially looking
for literature on methods for researching "the social life of things", but
general literature is also welcome, e.g. on collecting, object histories
etc.
thanks in advance
Daan van Dartel
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>

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