Mazes and Labyrinths: Their History and Development

by William Henry Matthews

History, explanation, mythical use, religious aspects, surviving specimens, modern puzzles, design of mazes, principles of solution. Richly informative. 151 illustrations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art, Mythology, Philosophy, Design, Art History

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Skallagrimsen]

I spent a glorious day today hiking and busing around Seattle under the dark gray cloud of an impending snowstorm. Along the way I visited used bookstores: Twice Sold Tales, Magus, Third Place. I don't have money to buy many books right now, nor room for them in my new monk's cell of a microapartment. But at least I could jot down a bunch of the interesting titles I saw, in anticipation of better days ahead. One of the most intriguing was Mazes and Labyrinths: Their History and Development. It sounds like a pseudo-book referenced in a Borges story.

[Brandon Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange and fascinating little read on the history of labyrinths and a range of related miscellanea. It’s from the early 1900s, so the bizarre writing style and weird word spellings are half the fun. And there are gadzooks!

[Andrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite dry, but such an interesting theme. I took notes so I don't have to read it again.

[Justin Ritter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too British

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humans have long been fascinated by structures that pack the maximum amount of path in a small space, and those that create a puzzle to move through to find a center or exit. This 1922 book was the first major work in English to take a thorough look at the history and locations of mazes and labyrinths.

The author mentions in the introduction that the words “labyrinth” and “maze” have been used so interchangeably over the years that defining a difference between them is a matter for the individual scholar. Sometimes it comes down to which flows better as a name.

The history starts with the ancient world, particularly the Egyptian and Cretan Labyrinths, the latter of course most associated with the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur. Both of these seem to have long since vanished, but there are cave systems and ruins that resemble the fabled confusing structures of yore.

Then it’s up to the church labyrinths of Medieval Europe, embedded in the floors or walls of cathedrals. Later scholars suggested that these were used as ways of making penance for those who could not go on pilgrimages, but as of 1922 no contemporary sources had been found to support this belief. The labyrinths were not generally decorated with Christian symbology, and many had direct visual depictions of minotaurs.

Then it’s on to turf mazes cut into the soil once very common in rural England. These chapters make somewhat sad reading as it mentions maze after maze that has vanished, including one that was destroyed by tanks in World War One.

After that, botanical mazes, both floral ones that do not block your view of other paths, and the topiary or hedge mazes that do. These were huge for English estates back in the day, but considered somewhat passe by the early 20th Century and nowadays confined to a few diehard grounds and parks.

Then stone-built mazes of various places including Finland and Arizona. This is followed by a discussion of why so many labyrinths were named after Troy, the famously impregnable (until Trojan Horse) city. And Rosamund’s Bower, named after an alleged mistress of King Henry the Second, who was kept from the jealous queen by a house (bower} filled with confusing, maze-like passages. It didn’t work, according to legend.

Then it’s time for the etymology of mazes and labyrinths and some thoughts on designing them. The author looks at mentions of labyrinths and mazes in literature, often as metaphors.

The final chapter brings us up to the present of 1922, talking about paper mazes, mirror mazes, and maze toys. This is followed by a bibliography (now considerably out of date) and index. There are copious illustrations showing real and reconstructed mazes that should afford hours of fun if traced.

My reprint of the book by “The Lost Library” preserves the original typeface, which adds to the charm.

This is a thorough look at the subject using the resources available to the author at the time. It’s Anglocentric, so those outside Europe and the classical world who want their own countries’ rich maze heritage acknowledged may need to seek out newer volumes. I found the subject fascinating and the writing engaging when the author wasn’t just listing locations as he sometimes does.

Recommended to bright teenagers on up who enjoy puzzles and games.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dense but nonetheless a fascinating look into the evolution of mazes and labyrinths over time. The sections on ancient Egyptian labyrinths and church labyrinths were particularly interesting, but it would have been helpful if translations were provided for the Latin inscriptions.

The diagrams are fucking cool.

A wonderful book to bring up at parties to sound vaguely intellectual and never pressed to explain more.

[Matthew Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great use of figures and diagrams to tell a broad history of labyrinths and mazes. Specially appreciated references to sand mazes on page 202. Had no idea there is a history of #beachmazes

@beachmaze on fb and instagram

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linguistics bits were my fave for sure. Pretty dry but I really enjoyed the tone of it with the audiobook narrator.

Read in part of my All in August on House of Leaves, as this was a book referenced in the novel.

[Маx Nestelieiev · Rating 4 out of 5]

чудовий компендіум, із якого потім не крав тільки лінивий, безліч ілюстрацій, наведені всі вірогідні теорії походження turf maze та troy-labyrinth.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light overview of mazes and labyrinths -- possibly where the usage of "unicursal" came from, since he talks about it as a mathematical term -- with a tendency to mere catalog.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is both interesting and a test of the reader's patience.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read on the history of labyrinths and mazes. Published in 1922 this seems to be the volume that everything published since refers back to. It was written when Sir Arthur Evans was making regular announcements of his discoveries at Knossos, first revealed in 1900 with ongoing discoveries through to the 1930s, and on the heels of Flinders Petrie's adventures including the labyrinth in Egypt and Heinrich Schliemann's discovery of Troy in the late 1800s.

WH Matthews looks into the original labyrinth in Egypt, the stories of Knossos, the Roman mosaics, medieval cathedrals and the hedge and turf mazes found all over the UK, as well as looking into the origins and meanings of the words (maze and labyrinth).

I felt like Matthews took an intelligent look at mazes on behalf of his daughter who kept asking those proverbial questions for which he had no answers, at a time when mazes and archaeology were daily sources of new and exciting discoveries. It was also weird seeing references to the swastika before it had any unpleasant connections.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

One place this book falls short (beyond its survey ending at the start of the 20th century) is the lack of new world examples. Here in the United States, there is the corn maze or maize maze, if you will. The corn maze is part of the fall / Halloween tradition but how corn and mazes are interpreted depends on the region and ethnic group. They are often associated with the dead and the underworld but again, whether or not that association is a positive one depends on the person telling the story.

I'm still debating whether or not nonfiction road narrative references should be classified in the spectrum. However, as I have already classified some, I have decided to classify this one. As it is a history of mazes and labyrinths and the use of minotaur iconography, I'm putting it in #9933CC (minotaur, maze, rural).

I have taken numerous notes from the book and will be transcribing them to Tumblr.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comm...

[Lari Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for research purposes, as I'm currently writing an adventure book which starts in a maze. If you want information about the history of mazes (or at least, what was understood to be their history almost 100 years ago) this book is great. It has lots of maps of mazes (great fun for running your finger round) and lots of interesting titbits. It's also a bit of slog to read through at times. But I found it fascinating and very useful! I also found a potential title for my book, and was inspired to invent my own theory for getting round a maze, while reading it. (I get to invent the mazes in my own stories, so I know my theory will work!) I also read a few modern books about mazes, and they were full of glossy photos of mazes, but much less information than the Matthews book. Not a fun bedtime read, but fascinating for those with a reason to research mazes.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and rather frustratingly pedantic, the author seemed to delight in listing all of the examples he'd researched in lieu of drawing conclusions based on the data. Discussions of myths and legends associated with mazes and labyrinths (particularly the Creten labyrinth of the Minotaur) were interesting, but despite claiming to cover great ground in his knowledge it seemed somewhat limited to turf and hedge mazes in the British Isles and scant examples gleaned from old (and as he often notes, potentially unreliable) sources. His ability to research was most likely hampered by his era (1920s), but the presentation left much to be desired.

[Trunatrschild · Rating 5 out of 5]

A neat antique book on mazes and Labyrinths. The author mentions that he is influenced by Murray, but it is difficult to tell, but it was 'the times'. It's really interesting despite it's age and I'd like to read more and more up to date information. It's interesting that the author just expects people to know latin and French... course people were taught that back then for a well rounded education.
I think it makes a great beginner book on the subject.

[Scott Chesler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best line so far, a description of a particularly confounding series of tunnels on the Isle of Crete : "If a Man strikes into any other Path, after he has gone a good way, he is so bewildered among a thousand Twistings, Twinings, Sinuosities, Crinkle-Crankles and Turn-again Lanes, that he could scarce ever get out again without the utmost danger of being lost."

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

In depth survey and history of labyrinths and mazes. A rare and esoteric text first published in 1922 that describes some mazes that are now lost. It also addresses some of the mysticism surrounding some of them. It's dry style took some getting used to it, but otherwise, a very good read.

[John Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting historical view of the subject. He provides information that would have been lost to us if he had not documented it in such a scholarly and detailed manner when he did. A must read tome for those of us deeply interested in the subject.

[Carol Spears · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that I would have liked this book better if I had been more familiar with the UK.

There was some interesting stuff and it was also fun to follow the maze paths in the photographs and drawings.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this on the throne, know what i mean? it was actually fascinating.

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Often a little dry. i.e. not great narrative non-fiction. However it is a great history of mazes and labyrinths. I read it to support my current interest in programming mazes with a historical background.