Antiques: The History of an Idea by Leon Rosenstein

"Rosenstein's Antiques: The History of an Idea [is] a marvelous surprise, a connoisseur's introduction to a conceptual category, the antique, demonstrably inseparable from the life of the arts, critically important for the philosophy of art, as well as for intelligently informed appreciation, puzzlingly neglected, as subtle and as complex a notion as might be pertinently added at this late date: all brought together in a delightfully informal and meticulous conversation that appears almost incapable of exhausting its fresh examples and distinctions." --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Reader Reviews
As a dealer and collector myself I highly recommend this book. It's not a price guide for some antique category, not a coffee table book with pretty pictures, and not the usual dull, scholarly tomb. This work shows a deep philosophical understanding of the major issues in aesthetics, a profound knowledge of the history of the connoisseurship and collecting of antiques, a savvy grasp of the intricacies of the antiques trade, and a deep love of antiques--not only as objects of appreciation and desire but also as objects of economic, social, and cultural worth. With a sweeping historical account (occupying about two-thirds of the text) filled with fascinating accounts (and sometimes hilarious anecdotes) of antiques collecting from Roman times to the present, it displays Rosenstein's impressive art-historical knowledge and his ability to write a lively book that is simultaneously a joy for the connoisseur, for the philosopher, for teh historian, and for the intelligent antiques lover or antigques dealer, a gook that is written in elegant and witty prose that is rearely "difficult" (except in a very few short philosophical passages) and always stimulating, informative, and entertaining. Exactly "what" is an antique, how and why did this idea emerge and change over time, where and when, by whom have antiques been collected and for what purpose, how do we now identify and what do we most look for and most prize in "the ideal antique"? These are the book's major topics. Written by a professional philosopher who happens also to be a professional antiques dealer, it is a wonderful synthesis and ground-breaking achievement of the highest order. There is no other work that even comes close to dealing with its subject matter."

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