bits in boxes.

Myself and a good friend have noticed a definite trend recently in books and similarly published material - everything is all a little more bits and piecey and touchy feely. Rather than simply photographed on a page, collections presented are just as likely to be reproduced as loose material similar to their original state.
Two examples:





Infamous McSweeney's literary journal, Issue 19: Housed in a cigar box, the journal includes a 144-page paperback alongside a varying array of replicas of historical pamphlets, facsimile letters and flyers. Quite a delight to open and pick up one by one (a favourite birthday present of mine).





Replicas of vintage illustrations as postcards in a box. Lovely to sift through the stack. Published by Chronicle Books.

What is so appealing about a group of objects placed together with the common element of colour?
This arrangement by expert collector Lisa Congdon.