FLAGRANTE COLLECTO (IN) (R)

According to author Marilynn Gelfman Karp, collecting is a calling; and those who are driven to collect unloved objects are the purest collectors of all. In this literary and sophisticated celebration of humble objects, Karp shares her passionate insights on what she calls the "rapture of the capture."

In Flagrante Collecto is a vividly illustrated book that is equal parts cultural history, personal memoir, and coffee table objet d'art. The 1000 color photographs that fill this book tell stories of lost and found objects. Ignored by many, these figural matchbooks, buttons, erasers, cigar rings, pictorial seed packets, and other items are hunted and gathered with Ahab-like tenacity at flea markets, antique shops, and collectible shows worldwide.

This lovingly assembled volume is a fascinating compendium of material culture as told by an incredible array of objects.

Marilynn Gelfman Karp is a professor of art at New York University, a sculptor whose mixed media, found object works have been exhibited internationally, an avid observer of material culture, and a relentless collector. She and her husband divide their time between New York City and a farmhouse in upstate New York.