Modern Languages and Literatures, Department of
Date of this Version
March 1998
Abstract
Combining revived interest in both the emblem and alchemy, this volume is the third in a series of works on emblem studies published by the French Department at the University of Glasgow. Its ten essays, divided among three major categories entitled, “A Theoretical Perspectives”, “The English Alchemists”, and “Continental Manifestations”, stress inter disciplinarity as they explore the relationships between text, image, and alchemical practice. Broad in scope but detailed in its analyses, the compendium raises several intriguing questions about the correspondence between literature, art, and pseudo-science. Despite the diversity of its topics, the collection is often surprisingly unified in its discussion of authors, motifs, and themes. With the exception of some gaps in argumentation, Emblems and Alchemy makes a significant contribution not only to the field of emblematics, but to early modern studies.
Comments
Published in Cahiers du Dix-septième: An Interdisciplinary Journal 8:1 (1998), pp. 212-216. Online at http://www.chapman.edu/cahiers/
Copyright 1998 Russell Ganim.