All the Best Rubbish: The Classic Ode to Collecting

by Ivor Noel Hume

Overview

Ivor Noel Hume, the former chief archaeologist of Colonial Williamsburg, offers a delightful, anecdotal, and informative celebration of the joys of collecting. All the Best Rubbish is the enchanting and edifying product of Hume’s lifetime spent pursuing historical junk across the globe, a hunt that has led him to the most remarkable finds in the most unexpected places. A true treasure for antiquarians, historians, collectors, and fans of television’s Antique Roadshow, Hume’s All the Best Rubbish includes a new introduction by the author on collecting on the Internet in the Age of Ebay.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061809897
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/03/2009
Pages:	323
Sales rank:	133,899
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ivor Noël Hume is the former chief archaeologist of Colonial Williamsburg and director of the Williamsburg Depart-ment of Archaeology. He led the team that discovered the first traces of England's failed Roanoke Island colony, and his book A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America is the definitive source on the subject. In 1992 Hume was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to British cultural interests in Virginia. He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Enter the Internet and the Age of eBay xi

1 "What's Past Is Prologue..." 1

2 To Have and to Hold 16

3 Cabinets, Closets, and Dubitable Curiosities 35

4 In Search of Bald Sextons 54

5 Something for Nothing 71

6 Billie and Charlie and Margaret North 97

7 Of Mud, and Pots, and Puppy Dogs, and Mistake that Come Back in the Night 125

8 Adam and Eve to Caroline, with Intermediate Stops 143

9 History in a Green Bottle 173

10 "All the Best Rubbish Is Gone" 204

11 A Word in Your Eye 226

12 Of Mermaids, Fakes, and Other Grave Matters 261

13 And Then What? 290

Notes 303

Bibliography 309

Index 311

Acknowledgments 321