Mateiu Caragiale's interest in heraldry and genealogy mirrored his tastes and outlook on the world, which have been described as "snobbery", "aestheticism", and "dandyism", as well as the love of history he displayed throughout his career. It was sparked during his college years, when he would fill his notebooks with sketches of blazons, and as attested by various drawings he produced throughout his life. He also developed an enduring curiosity for astronomy, magic, as well as botany and agronomy, and kept detailed notes recording the deaths of all Romanian aristocrats who were his contemporaries.