The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age / Edition 1

by Frances Yates

Overview

It is hard to overestimate the importance of the contribution made by Dame Frances Yates to the serious study of esotericism and the occult sciences. To her work can be attributed the contemporary understanding of the occult origins of much of Western scientific thinking, indeed of Western civilization itself. The Occult Philosophy of the Elizabethan Age was her last book, and in it she condensed many aspects of her wide learning to present a clear, penetrating, and, above all, accessible survey of the occult movements of the Renaissance, highlighting the work of John Dee, Giordano Bruno, and other key esoteric figures. The book is invaluable in illuminating the relationship between occultism and Renaissance thought, which in turn had a profound impact on the rise of science in the seventeenth century. Stunningly written and highly engaging, Yates' masterpiece is a must-read for anyone interested in the occult tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415254090
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/18/2001
Series:	Routledge Classics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	897,826
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.81(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dame Francis Yates (1899-1981) was Reader in the History of the Renaissance at the Warburg Institute, University of London. The leading Renaissance scholar of her time, she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1977 in recognition of her services to Renaissance studies. Her other publications include The Art of Memory and The Rosicrucian Enlightenment .

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part 1 The Occult Philosophy in Renaissance and Reformation; Chapter I Medieval Christian Cabala: The Art of Ramon Lull; Chapter II The Occult Philosophy in the Italian Renaissance: Pico della Mirandola; Chapter III The Occult Philosophy in the Reformation: Johannes Reuchlin; Chapter IV The Cabalist Friar of Venice: Francesco Giorgi; Chapter V The Occult Philosophy and Magic: Henry Cornelius Agrippa; chapter VI The Occult Philosophy and Melancholy: Dürer and Agrippa; chapter VII Reactions against the Occult Philosophy: The Witch Craze; Part 2 The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age; Introduction; chapter VIII John Dee: Christian Cabalist; Chapter IX Spenser’s Neoplatonism and the Occult Philosophy: John Dee and The Faerie Queene; Chapter X Elizabethan England and the Jews; Chapter XI The Reaction: Christopher Marlowe on Conjurors, Imperialists and Jews; Chapter XII Shakespeare and Christian Cabala: Francesco Giorgi and The Merchant of Venice; Chapter XIII Agrippa and Elizabethan Melancholy: George Chapman’s Shadow of Night; Chapter XIV Shakespearean Fairies, Witches, Melancholy: King Lear and the Demons; Chapter XV Prospero: The Shakespearean Magus; Part 3 The Occult Philosophy and Rosicrucianism and Puritanism: The Return of the Jews to England; Introduction; Chapter XVI Christian Cabala and Rosicrucianism; Chapter XVII The Occult Philosophy and Puritanism: John Milton; Chapter XVIII The Return of the Jews to England; Epilogue;

Editorial Reviews

'Among those who have explored the intellectual world of the sixteenth century, no one can rival Frances Yates. Wherever she looks, she illuminates . . . No one has done more than she to recreate, from unexpected material, the intellectual life of past ages.' – Hugh Trevor-Roper

'A welcome new edition of this classic work ...' – Network

From the Publisher