Detailed biographies describe the lives of twelve collectors of tribal art in Britain.

Catalogues, ledgers and reminiscences are used to provide vivid accounts of the competitive acquisition and accumulation and disposal of ethnographic art over two hundred years.

None of these people were field collectors. All were acutely aware of the values of the objects they obtained : this aspect of the collecting process is emphasised in the volume. Prices and the names of sources are included.