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

Richly illustrated throughout, including 8 pages of color plates, An Infinity of Things tells the story of the greatest private collection ever made, and the life of the man behind it. American-born Henry Wellcome made his millions as one of the world's first pharmaceutical entrepreneurs. Drawing on his massive wealth, he planned a great museum filled with treasures from all corners of the globe, charting the history of human health from prehistory to the present day. Demonstrating what can happen when a collector's aspirations are left unconstrained by wealth, Frances Larson explores Wellcome's life through his possessions, revealing the many tensions in his character: between his talents as a businessman and his desire for scholarly recognition; his curiosity and his perfectionism; and his philanthropic aspirations and his drive for personal glory. During the opening decades of the twentieth century he acquired a collection so large that later generations of staff took to describing its contents by the ton. But Wellcome's museum was never finished, and his collection was still stored in vast warehouses when he died, unseen and incomplete.

About the Author :
Frances Larson is Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, at Durham University.

Review :
"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