The Alchemy of Light: Geometry and Optics in Late Renaissance Alchemical Illustration (Symbola Et Emblemata Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Symbolism) [Hardcover]

Urszula Szulakowska (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000 | ISBN-10: 9004116907 | ISBN-13: 978-9004116900

This study concerns the late Renaissance metaphysics of light in its adoption to a Paracelsian alchemical context by John Dee, Heinrich Khunrath, Michael Maier and Robert Fludd. Their alchemical theosophy is contextualised within Protestant reformism of the 1590s to 1620s, specifically that of Valentin Weigel and Johannes Arndt. This results in a re-assessment of the Rosicrucian movement which challenges the existing historiography and problematises the character of the movement. The volume includes 50 illustrations from alchemical treatises of the period, the emphasis being placed on Khunrath's "Amphiteatrum Sapientiea Aeternae" (1595-1609). The study investigates these images using analytical tools drawn from semiotics, structuralism and post-structuralism. This method yields an interpretation of the geometry, optical diagrams and spatial structures employed in such alchemical engravings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9004116907
• ISBN-13: 978-9004116900
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,106,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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This review is from: The Alchemy of Light: Geometry and Optics in Late Renaissance Alchemical Illustration (Symbola Et Emblemata Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Symbolism) (Hardcover)

This book focuses on the intellectual and spiritual concerns of the 1590s to 1620s, using Khunrath's Ampithiteatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1595; 1609) as the focal-point in analyzing the rhetorical practices of Paracelsian theosophists, specifically their use of certain types of visual illustration. Since it is not possible to examine all the major alchemists of the late Renaissance, this study is confined to the cabbalistic metaphysics and optical alchemy of four central figures, those of Dee, Khunrath, Maier, and Fludd.

Would interest those concerned with intellectual history, Renaissance theology and religious movements, the history of hermeticism, occultism and alchemy, as well as Renaissance art and science.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments IX
Introduction XI
1. The Semiotic Structures of Renaissance Alchemical Imagery 1
2. Geometry and Astrology in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Alchemy 12
3. The influence of Medieval Optics on Renaissance Alchemy 29
4. Paracelsian Alchemy: the "Astral Virtue" and the "Aerial Saltpetre" 41
5. John Dee's Alchemy of Light: the Monas Hieroglyphica and the Cabbalah 55
6. John Dee's Conceptual Architecture and "Zographie" in an Alchemical Context 71
7. Heinrich Khunrath: Divine Light and the Fire of the Magi 79
8. Heinrich Khunrath's Amphiteatrum Sapientiae Aeternae: the 1595 and 1602 editions 103
9. Heinrich Khunrath's Amphiteatrum Sapientiae Aeternae: the edition of 1604 (published Hanover, 1609) 113
10. Epicureans, Blasphemers, Sophists and Black-Magicians: the Persecution of Heinrich Khunrath 139
11. Michael Maier's Alchemical Geometry of the Sun 153
12. Robert Fludd: The Divine Alchemy of the Eye of God 167

Conclusion 183
Bibliography 185
Illustrations 201
Index

Of related interest is the author's work: The Sacrificial Body And the Day of Doom: Alchemy And Apocalyptic Discourse in the Protestant Reformation (Aries Book Series).