A cabinet of curiosities

An aspect of A Certain Gesture: Evnine’s Batman Meme Project and Its Parerga! about which I have not said very much at all yet is the influence on it of the idea of the Wunderkammer, the cabinet of curiosities. In the back of my mind is always W. G. Sebald’s melancholy but enchanting book The Rings of Saturn which is like a literary manifestation of the Wunderkammer. Sebald was influenced by Sir Thomas Browne and Browne is, in fact, indirectly referenced in one of my memes. (I was referring to an early 18th century anonymous pamphleteer who was, I later came to learn, himself drawing on Browne.)

In London last week, I was able to visit an exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians of London on Sir Thomas Browne. (Browne’s eldest son was once head of the College.) In the first picture, you can see me reflected in a glass, darkly. In the second, at the bottom right, is a copy of Sebald’s book.