Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) became fascinated with Egyptian art during three trips there, between 1906 and 1909, and acquired the bulk of his famous collection while on site. From jewel-like ancient glass vessels to sacred amulets with supposed magical properties to impressive stone guardian falcons and more, the Freer Egyptian collection is diverse, beautiful and important. Drawing on a wealth of unpublished letters, diaries and other sources housed in the Freer Gallery of Art Archives, "A Collector's Journey" documents Freer's experience in Egypt and discusses the place Egyptian art occupied in his aims and notions of beauty. The author reconstructs Freer's journeys and describes the often colourful characters - collectors, dealers, scholars and artists he met on the way. Gunter also places Freer's travels and collecting in the broader context of American interest in Egyptian antiquities at the time - a period in which a growing number of Americans, including such financial giants as J. Piermont Morgan and other Gilded Age barons were collecting in the same field.