Collectionitis

His answer was one which, with appropriate variations, might have been given by any one of those who, like himself, have been willing sufferers from some form of collectionitis.

Collectionitis strikes in the most unexpected quarters: it has metamorphosed a butcher into an expert on ancient porcelain and a cab driver into an Orientalist.

With his passion for collecting, Hartwig had formed a habit that is peculiar to those who suffer from ‘collectionitis’: the belief that he alone had the right to talk about a vase that he owned, even after he had parted with it.