The Collections
"If the attempt was made to inventory the contents of all museums and private collections, and if, in the process, the name of every category of object was listed only once, not even a thick book would suffice to hold them all. [...] In short, it can be determined without exception that every natural object of whose existence mankind is aware, and every artefact, however peculiar it may be, can be found in some private collection or another, or in a museum. [...]"
Krzysztof Pomian, Der Ursprung des Museums. Vom Sammeln, Berlin, 1988, p. 13
