First edition, second printing with some corrections. The German term "Wunderkammer" refers to a room full of wondrous things, objects noteworthy for their beauty, or their rarity, or their curious nature, or their artistic, scholarly, or monetary value. Wunderkammers originated as private collections in the 16th century, and proliferated throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, but began to decline when a more systematic approach to the accumulation of natural and man-made objects gave rise to our modern museums of art, culture, and natural history. Published to accompany the exhibition "Rooms of Wonder: from Wunderkammer to Museum, 1599-1899," the book focuses on the beautiful and elaborately illustrated catalogues produced by collectors over three hundred years to celebrate their "cabinets of curiosities."