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The Madman's Guide to Stamp Collecting
Brief Description
Why do we collect? Is it to rescue objects from oblivion? Is it a kind of desire—or even a kind of madness? In this mosaic of fiction, philosophy, sociology, biography, and autobiography, virtuoso thinker Robert Irwin takes us on a wayward journey through the art of...
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The Madman's Guide to Stamp Collecting
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Unavailable
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Description
Why do we collect? Is it to rescue objects from oblivion? Is it a kind of desire—or even a kind of madness? In this mosaic of fiction, philosophy, sociology, biography, and autobiography, virtuoso thinker Robert Irwin takes us on a wayward journey through the art of collecting, and his own intellectual passions.
Drawing on the works of writers including Susan Sontag, Walter Benjamin, Iris Murdoch, and Georges Perec, as well as a host of lesser-known geniuses, flâneurs, obsessives, and eccentrics, Irwin explores everything from mysticism to nostalgia, classical antiquity to surrealism, dreams to death. We join Thomas De Quincey on a night mail coach, encounter the man who set out to acquire every stamp ever issued, and enter the badlands of fakes and forgeries, all in the company of a uniquely brilliant mind.
The Madman's Guide to Stamp Collecting is a book of wonders; of labyrinthine digressions, good humour, and a delight in small things. It is a meditation on the stuff of life.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781805337744
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 10 April 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: ONE
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 240
About the Author
Robert Irwin (1946-2024) was a novelist, publisher, reviewer, Arabist and historian. He was a fellow of The Royal Society of Literature and the author of ten novels, including The Arabian Nightmare, Satan Wants Me and Tom's Version, as well as many works of non-fiction including The Arabian Nights: A Companion and Memoirs of a Dervish.
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