Mystical Metal of Gold: Essays on Alchemy And Renaissance Culture

by Stanton J. Linden (Editor)

The enduring scholarly interest in alchemy and hermeticism can be seen in the growing number of scholarly books and articles, specialized journals, colloquia and conferences, and university-level courses and seminars devoted to these and related subjects. Coexisting with this is a large popular market for these works. Two related characteristics mark the academic, research-oriented side of this burgeoning its interdisciplinary nature and its tendency to reassess and reinterpret, often radically, the authors, works and ideas that are its focus, frequently with the result of discovering a high level of alchemical and hermetic interest where it had previously not been suspected or readily admitted. This collection of essays touches on fields as diverse as the history of science and medicine, literature, art history and iconography, philosophy, religion and numismatics. The period of focus is 1500 to 1700 and essays on both English and Continental culture are included. The title "Mystical Metal of Gold" alludes to alchemy's spiritual and physical - esoteric and exoteric - dimensions and suggests the rich diversity of this vital field of research.

435 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2007