ABSTRACT
Indeed, the collecting instinct is often directed in such a way that it is a defining element in our character. Long before settling on a career path, many a naturalist has assembled elaborate collections o f birds eggs or leaves or rock samples. Charles Darwin is only one o f numerous notable examples. He wrote that ‘By the time I went to this day-school my taste for natural history, and more especially for collecting was well developed. ’ He described it as a ‘passion... [that] was very strong in me, and was clearly innate__’2 For others, collecting has been a relaxing avocation, independent o f regular professional activities. Franklin Roosevelt and stamps, for instance. 3 But what happens to these collections? For many of us, myself included, they end up tucked away in an attic storage box or scattered to grandchildren. (Darwin’s ended up in numerous museums, Roosevelt’s stamps were separated and sold at auction by his family after his death. )4 But many people have chosen to institutionalize their pas sions, thus creating perm anent memorials to themselves. If the collector has enough money (or proper connections), he or she may achieve the ultimate goal of having the collection enclosed in a marble shrineusually called a museum-with his or her name inscribed over the door. Lesser mortals are content with having their names attached to special collections in museums or perhaps to exhibition halls.
