An Infinity of Things: How Sir Henry Wellcome Collected the World - Hardcover

Frances Larson is Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, at Durham University.

"Absorbing...Ms. Larson's story of Wellcome's truly odd and amazing mania shows how it was rooted in his business and intellectual interests but came to control his existence." --Wall Street Journal

"[Wellcome's] quest for obsessional collecting also overtook any possibility of continuing commercial innovation. Yet this biography of a collection memorializes something splendid as well - an amazing energy, a continuing fascination with probing the past. And then of course, the man, that force of nature behind it all. There's a great deal in this book to enthrall the reader." --Washington Times

"Fleshes out the man behind the collection." -- The Explorers Journal

"Larson's book is too good to fall into glib psychological speculation, but the astounding story she presents by itself invites us to think about the relationship between collectors, their objects, and their friends and family, and also to situate this relationship historically...Meticulously re
"An incredibly detailed history...Larson's account of Wellcome's ambitious collection amounts to a deftly-researched and poignant tale of an energetic collector and the social network that not only shaped his affinity for things but also shaped the contents of his immense collection." --Museum Anthropology Review

"Absorbing...Ms. Larson's story of Wellcome's truly odd and amazing mania shows how it was rooted in his business and intellectual interests but came to control his existence." --Wall Street Journal

"[Wellcome's] quest for obsessional collecting also overtook any possibility of continuing commercial innovation. Yet this biography of a collection memorializes something splendid as well - an amazing energy, a continuing fascination with probing the past. And then of course, the man, that force of nature behind it all. There's a great deal in this book to enthrall the reader." --Washington Times

"Fleshes out the man behind the collection." -- The Explorers Journal

"Larson's book is too good to fall into glib psychological speculation, but the astounding story she presents by itself invites us to think about the relationship between collectors, their objects, and their friends and family, and also to situate this relationship historically...Meticulously researched and beautifully written." --The Journal of Modern History

"An incredibly detailed history...Larson's account of Wellcome's ambitious collection amounts to a deftly-researched and poignant tale of an energetic collector and the social network that not only shaped his affinity for things but also shaped the contents of his immense collection."--Museum Anthropology Review

"Absorbing...Ms. Larson's story of Wellcome's truly odd and amazing mania shows how it was rooted in his business and intellectual interests but came to control his existence."--Wall Street Journal

"[Wellcome's] quest for obsessional collecting also overtook any possibility of continuing commercial innovation. Yet this biography of a collection memorializes something splendid as well - an amazing energy, a continuing fascination with probing the past. And then of course, the man, that force of nature behind it all. There's a great deal in this book to enthrall the reader."--Washington Times

"Fleshes out the man behind the collection."--The Explorers Journal

"Larson's book is too good to fall into glib psychological speculation, but the astounding story she presents by itself invites us to think about the relationship between collectors, their objects, and their friends and family, and also to situate this relationship historically...Meticulously researched and beautifully written."--The Journal of Modern History