THOUGHTS ON
Kunstkammer, Wunderkammer, Wonder-rooms, or Cabinet of Curiosities were private collections comprised of a whole host of exotic items taken from across the globe. Such collections reached their prominence during the seventeenth century and gave way to the advent of the modern museum.
Often called, “theaters of the world,” cabinet of curiosities were places to exhibit a sense of wonder for the unfamiliar, love of the strange and express the eccentric interests of their proprietors. Science, however, began to unravel the secrets behind many of these mysterious objects. So, through a process of demystification, facts replaced speculation, the museum the wonder-room and logic the wonder.
Our digital halls do have their limitations. Naturally, while this virtual museum serves as a poor “cabinet” for physical items, it certainly does not mean that it cannot preserve the “curiosity.” This little menagerie, in spirit, is throwback to those assortments what captured the imagination of those of days gone by. A digital cabinet not of physical items but of the odd, the curious and unexplained. Our own ”theater of the world” which to entice the curiosity seeker in all of us.
The articles herein were selected due to their relative unfamiliarity. This is, of course, taken from the perspective of the author. The intention here is merely to republish those lost, forgotten things, as well as to highlight the more intriguing entries; consolidating them in one convenient location. It is our hope that the reader may investigate further should it please them.