The infinity of lists [... published in conjunction with the Exhibition The Infinity of Lists, presented by the Musée du Louvre, Paris, in November 2009

In the history of Western culture we find lists of saints, ranks of soldiers, accounts of grotesque creatures, inventories of medicinal plants and hordes of treasure. There are practical lists that are finite, such as catalogues of books in a library: but there are others that are intended to suggest countless magnitudes and thereby arouse in us a dizzying sense of the infinite. This infinity of lists ,s no coincidence: a culture prefers enclosed, stable forms when it 1s sure of its own identity, whereas when faced with a jumbled accumulation of ill-defined phenomena, 1t starts making lists. The aesthetics of lists runs throughout the history of art and literature. We see 1t at work not only in ancient bestiaries. the celestial hosts of angels. or the naturalist collections of the sixteenth century. We find it also more obliquely from Homer to Joyce and Pynchon, from the treasures of Gothic cathedrals to the fantastical landscapes of Bosch and cabinets of curiosities. until we get to Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst in the twentieth century In this beautifully illustrated edition. Umberto Eco reflects on how the idea of catalogues has changed over the centuries and how, from one period to another, it has expressed the spirit of the times. His essay 1s accompanied by a literary antholo9y and a wide selection of works ot art illustrating and analyzing the texts presented. This new volume is a companion to History of Beauty and On Ugliness.

Best-selling author and philosopher Umberto Eco is currently resident at the Louvre, and his chosen theme of study is "the vertigo of lists." Reflecting on this enormous trove of human achievements, in his lyrical intellectual style he has embarked on an investigation of the phenomenon of cataloging and collecting. This book, featuring lavish reproductions of artworks from the Louvre and other world-famous collections, is a philosophical and artistic sequel to Eco’s recent acclaimed books, History of Beauty and On Ugliness, books in which he delved into the psychology, philosophy, history, and art of human forms. Eco is a modern-day Diderot, and here he examines the Western mind’s predilection for list-making and the encyclopedic. His central thesis is that in Western culture a passion for accumulation is recurring: lists of saints, catalogues of plants, collections of art. This impulse has recurred through the ages from music to literature to art. Eco refers to this obsession itself as a "giddiness of lists" but shows how in the right hands it can be a "poetics of catalogues." From medieval reliquaries to Andy Warhol’s compulsive collecting, Umberto Eco reflects in his inimitably inspiring way on how such catalogues mirror the spirit of their times.

The Washington Post - Michael Dirda

Eco obviously recognizes how much he's left out and admits in his introduction that this mixture of essay, anthology and illustrated catalogue "cannot but end with an etcetera." Still, if hardly definitive, The Infinity of Lists is nonetheless a superb sampler, with something instructive or amusing on every page—and plenty of examples of the charm and shock accompanying any good list.

the First Illustrated Book By One Of The World’s Most Acclaimed Authors, History Of Beauty Presents An Intriguing Journey Into The Wonderful Realm Of Aesthetics, Exploring The Ever-changing Concept Of The Beautiful From Ancient Greece To Today With Abundant Examples. Closely Examining The Development Of The Visual Arts And Drawing On Literature From Each Era, The Range Of Eco’s Inquiry Includes Concepts Such As The Idea Of Love, Natural Inspiration Versus Numeric Formulas, And The Unattainable Woman. In The Mold Of History Of Beauty, On Ugliness Is An Exploration Of The Monstrous And The Repellant In Visual Culture And Arts. Eco’s Encyclopedic Knowledge And Captivating Storytelling Combines In This Ingenious Study Of The Ugly, Revealing That We Often Shield Ourselves From What We’re Most Attracted To Subliminally. With Numerous Examples Of Art, And Quotations From The Most Celebrated Writers And Philosophers Of Each Age, This Provocative Book Explores In-depth The Concepts Of Evil, Depravity, And Darkness In Art And Literature.

Introduction - 7 1. The shield and its form - 8 2. The list and the catalogue - 14 3. The visual list - 36 4. The ineffable - 48 5. Lists of things - 66 6. Lists of places - 80 7. There are lists and lists - 112 8. Exchanges between list and form - 130 9. The rhetoric of enumeration - 132 10. Lists of mirabilia - 152 11. Collections and treasures - 164 12. The Wunderkammer - 200 13. Definition by list of properties versus definition by essence - 216 14. The aristotelian telescope - 230 15. Excess, from Rabelais onwards 244 16. Coherent excess - 278 17. Chaotic enumeration - 320 18. Mass-media lists - 352 19. Lists of vertigos - 362 20. Exchanges between practical and poetic lists - 370 21. A non-normal list - 394 Appendix - 399 Reflections on how the idea of catalogs has changed over the centuries and how, from one period to another, it has expressed the spirit of the times. Companion to the author's History of beauty and On ugliness.