The Dark Side of the Enlightenment: Wizards, Alchemists, and Spiritual Seekers in the Age of Reason
by Fleming, John V
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Fine/Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0393079465
- ISBN 13
- 9780393079463
- Seller
-
Santa Barbara, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. xv, 414 pages, illustrations; 25 cm. Tight, clean copy. Stated First Edition. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. A fine copy of the first printing. "In The Dark Side of the Enlightenment John V. Fleming shows how the impulses of the European Enlightenment, generally associated with great strides in the liberation of human thought from superstition and traditional religion, were challenged by tenacious religious ideas or channeled into the darker pursuits of the esoteric and the occult. His topics include the stubborn survival of the miraculous, the Enlightenment roles of Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry and the widespread pursuit of magic and alchemy. Though we tend not to associate what was once called alchemy with what we now call chemistry, Fleming shows that the difference is merely one of linguistic modernization. Alchemy was once the chemistry, of Arabic derivation, and its practitioners were among the principal scientists and physicians of their ages. No point is more important for understanding the strange and fascinating figures in this book than the prestige of alchemy among the learned men of the age. Fleming follows some of these complexities and contradictions of the 'Age of Lights' into the biographies of two of its extraordinary offspring. The first is the controversial wizard known as Count Cagliostro, the 'Egyptian' freemason, unconventional healer, and alchemist known most infamously for his ambiguous association with the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which history has viewed as among the possible harbingers of the French Revolution and a major contributing factor in the growing unpopularity of Marie Antoinette. Fleming also reviews the career of Julie de Kru dener, the sentimental novelist, Pietist preacher, and political mystic who would later become notorious as a prophet. Impressively researched and wonderfully erudite, this rich narrative history sheds light on some lesser-known mental extravagances and beliefs of the Enlightenment era and brings to life some of the most extraordinary characters ever encountered either in history or fiction." - Publisher.. 1st. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 8vo. Collectible.
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Details
- Bookseller
- LEFT COAST BOOKS (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 200102
- Title
- The Dark Side of the Enlightenment: Wizards, Alchemists, and Spiritual Seekers in the Age of Reason
- Author
- Fleming, John V
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Edition
- 1st
- ISBN 10
- 0393079465
- ISBN 13
- 9780393079463
- Publisher
- W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
- Place of Publication
- New York and London
- Date Published
- 2013
- Size
- 8vo
- Keywords
- Collectible
- Bookseller catalogs
- XXX / COLLECTIBLES; European / 6. Neo-Classical & Romantic; Movements / Romanticism; European / 5. Baroque & Rococo;
Terms of Sale
LEFT COAST BOOKS
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About the Seller
LEFT COAST BOOKS
Biblio member since 2016
Santa Barbara, California
About LEFT COAST BOOKS
Established in Santa Barbara, California, in 2004, Left Coast Books specializes in ART BOOKS, offering thousands of titles on painting, sculpture, graphic arts, architecture, design, photography, film, video, and performance art. We also sell classics, literature, history, and a broad variety of useful academic books.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...