During the nineteenth century, British collectors were among the most active, passionate and eccentric in the world. Drawing on journals, eye-witness accounts and news reports, Magpies, Squirrels and Thieves tells the stories of some of the period's most intriguing collectors, following their hazardous journeys across the globe. Closer to home, it explores the perils of dodgy dealing and forgery, the cut-throat world of the fashionable London market and the competitive spirit that drove the country's collectors, to build a picture of a fascinating world in the midst of change. From John Charles Robinson, curator of the new South Kensington Museum (known to us now as the Victoria and Albert) and his struggles with his superiors over the direction of the museum's collections, to Charlotte Schreiber, an aristocrat who shocked London Society by her marriages, first to an industrialist, and subsequently to the tutor of her children; from silversmith Joseph Mayer in London and Liverpool to doctor Stephen Wootton Bushell in Beijing, Jacqueline Yallop traces the development of Victorian Britain's obsession with the collecting of beautiful things, both private and public. Along the way she explores how the modern roles of dealer, collector and curator emerged; the expansion of local and provincial museums; how collecting became a middleclass pastime, rather than being confined to the aristocracy, while the involvement of women and the impact of empire expanded the notions of what was collectable: from china and the oriental decorative arts to fans and playing cards. And we see how the Victorian era saw the emergence of a newfound obsession with things, with possessions and how they reveal our taste and status to others - one that remains with us to this day

在19世纪，英国的收藏家是世界上最活跃、最富有激情和最古怪的收藏家之一。喜鹊、松鼠和盗贼》根据日记、目击者的描述和新闻报道，讲述了这一时期一些最引人入胜的收藏家的故事，跟踪他们在全球的危险旅程。在国内，该书探讨了虚假交易和伪造的危险，时尚的伦敦市场的残酷世界，以及推动国家收藏家的竞争精神，以构建一个处于变革中的迷人世界。从新的南肯辛顿博物馆（我们现在知道的是维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆）的馆长约翰-查尔斯-罗宾逊以及他在博物馆藏品方向上与上级的斗争，到夏洛特-施莱伯，这位贵族因其婚姻而震惊伦敦社会，先是与一位实业家结婚，后来又与她孩子的导师结婚。从伦敦和利物浦的银匠Joseph Mayer到北京的医生Stephen Wootton Bushell，Jacqueline Yallop追溯了维多利亚时代英国对私人和公共美丽事物收藏的痴迷发展。一路走来，她探索了经销商、收藏家和策展人的现代角色是如何出现的；地方和省级博物馆的扩张；收藏如何成为中产阶级的消遣，而不是局限于贵族阶层，同时妇女的参与和帝国的影响扩大了可收藏的概念：从瓷器和东方装饰艺术到风扇和扑克牌。我们看到，维多利亚时代出现了一种新的对事物的痴迷，对财产的痴迷，以及它们如何向他人展示我们的品味和地位--这种痴迷一直伴随着我们。

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