Obsessed with Collection

Small children collect shells or marbles; older ones comic books, dolls or toy cars. Grown-up children col­lect vintage cars, or paintings, or a huge range of other things, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Collecting, by one definition, is "the process of actively, selec­tively and passionately acquiring, possessing and disposing of valued things, often removed from ordinary use and perceived as part of a set. ‘ Hunting for’ them excites the collector, and taking possession of the object of his desire can be a moment of pure passion, sometimes literally. Obsessed with collection most collectors pursue less ambitious goals, merely wanting to acquire every first edition by an author or every denomination of a stamp, and love putting the last piece into place. Some people think the urge to collect may be related to man's origin as a hunter-gatherer. Others have looked for Freudian ex­planations: compensation for a loveless childhood, or an attempt to impose order on a chaotic world. One in three people will remain collec­tors even in adulthood.

They are a heterogeneous bunch, says James Stourton at Soth­eby's, who is writing a history of art collecting after 1945; but those he meets often share certain characteristics. They are very intelligent, predominantly male, typically Jewish, often childless. They see their collecting as a highly cre­ative activity, and know their subjects backwards. Some stick with the same specialism all their lives; others get bored and turn to something else. But they rarely give up collecting altogether. Most serious collectors are not motivated by money, but by a fascination with the objects themselves. Sometimes they go over the top, like Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792 - 1872), an Englishman who declared that he wanted a copy of every book in the world. He ac­quired around 50,000 books and 60,000 manuscripts, piled them high in his house and ran up huge debts. But of course he never got the complete set.

When rich men want something, they usually get it. But even very rich men, however, cannot lay their hands on trea­sures that have already come to rest in museums or the private col­lections of other plutocrats. Great paintings still turn up in the salerooms from time to time and fetch great prices: last year Pi­casso's "Boy with a Pipe" was sold at Sotheby's for $104111. But such opportunities are few and far between.

One way round this supply problem is to buy something new. Alistair McAlpine, a British collector, remembers how in 1964 he paid £2,000 for a painting by Mark Rothko which his friends thought was dreadful. This year another work by the same artist dating from 1964 was sold at Christie's for over $10m. Another way to avoid disappointment is to collect something nobody else wants. A few decades ago Vic­torian art was unfashionable, but once enough people had discovered its charms, prices went up. But the best way for a collector to ensure he can find what he wants is to develop an interest in something machine-made. Mass production has democratised collecting and brought it within reach of ordinary people. Once something could be made in a workshop or factory-a print, a piece of china, a candlestick-the supply became much more elastic. Not too elas­tic, though, because even a mass-produced item can become rarer and more valuable if it has a flaw or a slightly different colour from the rest. And there is always the device of a limited edition. During a craze for Beanie Babies toys a few years ago, some ver­sions were made only in small quantities, which persuaded peo­ple to queue up and pay high prices for these "rarities".

The biggest change in the world of collecting in the past decade or so has been the arrival of the internet, though television has also boosted the habit. There is no end of websites that cater to collectors, offering information, specialist books and magazines, valuations, search engines for wanted items, auctions, framing, shipping and insurance services, and much else besides. To get an idea of the range of things that engage collectors, go to collectingchannel.com, which offers information on about 50 cat­egories, from clocks, postcards and militaria to fire engines and dental equipment.

Even at the conventional end of the trade, the internet has made an enormous difference. Abbotts, an auction house in the east of England which holds fine-art sales every few months, used to publicise them by advertising in the papers, sending out cata­logues and telephoning dealers. Auction results too are posted on the web, so it is easy to find the prices achieved around the world.

The same sort of transparency is available on eBay, the online auction house that in a mere ten years has won over 150m registered users and expects a turnover of $40 billion this year. EBay sells mundane things, from clothes to cars, but also has a large section of "collectables" that offers a wealth of more eso­teric fare. Would-be buyers browsing the site can see a description of the item, a photograph and the highest bid offered so far, and if they trump it they may soon get their purchase through the post. It may lack the theatrical ex­citement of raising your hand at Christie's, but it is wonderfully efficient, as hordes of hoarders have found.

(The Source: adapted from www.economist.com/node/5323744)

D. Look at the six headings corresponding to the overall content of the text. Then look through the text and find the English expressions which mean the same as the given Russian ones:

Heading 1. Definition of collecting

Ценные предметы, приобретать избирательно, полный набор, огромный диапазон, приобретение, быть охваченным, «охотиться» за чем-либо, «охотники».

Heading 2. The objects which may be collected

Коллекционировать на протяжении всей своей жизни, сокровища, великие полотна, рукописи, грандиозные и нелепые вещи.

Heading 3. A typical collector

Разнородная группа, иметь определённые черты, влезать в огромные долги, специализироваться в одной области, переключаться на другую, искать, никогда не бросать хобби, обладать.

Heading 4. The urge to collect

Преследовать амбициозные цели, вносить порядок в хаотичный мир, творческая деятельность, быть мотивированным деньгами, ограниченный выпуск, немодный предмет, быть охваченным страстным желанием коллекционировать.

Heading 5. The supply problem and its solution

Частные коллекции, музеи, мастерская и завод, массовое производство, ценный из-за дефекта.

Heading 6. The arrival of the Internet

Аукцион, перевозка, страховые услуги, проводить торги, рассылать каталоги, прозрачность, товарооборот в $150,000; обычные предметы, приспосабливаться и угождать запросам коллекционеров.