Serendipities: language and Lunacy
by Eco, Umberto
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine to Fine
- Seller
-
SANTA BARBARA, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Small remainder mark on bottom page edges, else fine. Crisp, unread copy. Price intact jacket very close to fine. . Second Printing. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine to Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.
Synopsis
Serendipities is a careful unraveling of the fabulous and the false, a brilliant exposition of how unanticipated truths often spring from false ideas. From Leibniz's belief that the I Ching illustrated the principles of calculus to Marco Polo's mistaking a rhinoceros for a unicorn, Umberto Eco offers a dazzling tour of intellectual history, illuminating the ways in which we project the familiar onto the strange to make sense of the world. Uncovering layers of mistakes that have shaped human history, Eco offers with wit and clarity such instances as Columbus's voyage to the New World, the fictions that grew around the Rosicrucians and Knights Templar, and the linguistic endeavors to recreate the language of Babel, to show how serendipities can evolve out of mistakes. With erudition, anecdotes, and scholarly rigor, this new collection of essays is sure to entertain and enlighten any reader with a passion for the curious history of languages and ideas.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Timothy Norlen Bookseller
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 016719
- Title
- Serendipities: language and Lunacy
- Author
- Eco, Umberto
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine to Fine
- Edition
- Second Printing
- Publisher
- Columbia University Press
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1998
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9&f
Terms of Sale
Timothy Norlen Bookseller
Books sent out within 24 - 48 hours upon receipt of order. Return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 15 days after delivery if an item arrives that is not as described.
About the Seller
Timothy Norlen Bookseller
Biblio member since 2019
SANTA BARBARA, California
About Timothy Norlen Bookseller
I am a internet based bookstore that specializes in Modern First Editions, film sources, Mystery and Detective fiction and Western Americana. I have approximately 10,000 books, primarily first editions with about 1300 of them signed by the author. I try and stock only books that are sound, clean and attractive.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- Remainder Mark
- Usually an ink marking of some sort which indicates that the book was designated a remainder. In most cases, it can be found on...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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