FINDERS, KEEPERS: Treasures and Oddities of Natural...

FINDERS, KEEPERS: Treasures and Oddities of Natural History: Collectors From Peter the Great to Louis Agassiz by Rosamond Wolff Purcell & Stephen Jay Gould (Norton: $24.95; 160 pp.). Gould traces the evolution of natural history collections from princely Kunstkammers, or chambers of curiosities, to modern museums. Peter the Great had agents gather objects throughout his empire for his personal horde, which included teeth the Tsar had extracted himself; the gentle Lord Walter Rothschild used his vast fortune to assemble an unparalleled collections of exotic birds of paradise. Purcell’s dramatic photographs provide a striking counterpoint to Gould’s engaging text.