Joy Kenseth. The age of the marvelous. Hanover, N.H.: Hood Museum of Art; Chicago: distributed by the University of Chicago Press, 1991.

This book served as the catalog of an exhibition of the same name; it is copiously illustrated and includes knowledgeable essays on the many aspects of collecting fever that swept through Europe during the Renaissance.

Oliver Impey & Arthur MacGregor. The origins of museums: The cabinet of curiosities in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe. Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press, 1985.

The published papers of a conference, this volume presents a wide array of specific studies, with a particular focus on natural-history collections.

Silvio Bedini. "The evolution of science museums," in Technology and culture, vol.6 (1965), p.1-29.

A survey of known collections from the 1500s through the nineteenth century, with a useful chart summarizing key dates and subjects.

Philip C. Ritterbush. "Art and science as influences on the early development of natural history collections," in Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol.82 (1969), p.561-578.

The Society's symposium on "Natural History Collections, Past - Present - Future" (see entry below) included this paper about early cabinets of curiosities and about one actual cabinet from the 17th century at the Smithsonian Institution.

"Natural History Collections, Past - Present - Future." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol.82 (1969), p.559-762.

These papers presented at a symposium sponsored by the Biological Society of Washington (D.C.) cover a range of natural-history collections and issues, especially their use in scientific research (for example, Richard L. Zusi's "The role of museum collections in ornithological research").