A Noble Madness: The Dark Side of Collecting from Antiquity to Now

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 siècle 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.

James Delbourgo is the James Westfall Thompson Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers University. He previously taught at McGill and Harvard, and is author of the prize-winning Collecting the World: Hans Sloane and the Origins of the British Museum. He lives in New York.

ISBN: 9780393541960
Format: Hardback
Pages: 288
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: August 12, 2025

"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.""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.""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 Noble Madness is a delight to read and ponder, not to mention an exceptional achievement in cultural history.""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.""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!""Everybody has things; some people collect things; and just a few of these people are obsessives, defining themselves through their collections. What’s been thought about people like that? Are they contemptible, pitiable, or admirable? Are they perverse or pious, crazy or charismatic? Delbourgo puts the collector right at the center of a historical story about what it means to be human. A Noble Madness enlightens, it provokes, and it delights.""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.""A gallery of collectors from ancient times to the present -- obsessives and dilettanti, hoarders and cataloguers, emperors, scholars and libertines. Delbourgo’s exploration of their ‘madness,’ whether uncontrolled passion, devious greed, or a desire to order chaos, is an exuberant and illuminating delight.""This is a wonderful book: witty, erudite, and deliciously written. The book has many layers, with different energies flowing and glowing across the pages, maintaining elegance and lightness of touch throughout. A rare combination of human empathy and critical insight. Delbourgo takes us round the world and deep into history to reveal both the dark and the bright side of collecting."