Joscelyn Godwin

Athanasius Kircher's Theatre of the World

The Life and Work of the Last Man to Search for Universal Knowledge

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

HERMETIC STUDIES / ALCHEMY Linguist, archaeologist, and exceptional scholar, Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) was the last true Renaissance man. By profession a Jesuit priest, he made himself an authority on almost every subject under the sun. To Kircher the entire world was a glorious manifestation of God, and his exploration was both a scientific quest and a religious experience. His works on Egyptology (he is credited with being the first Egyptologist), music, optics, magnetism, geology, and comparative religion were the definitive tests of their time--and yet they represent only a part of his vast range of knowledge. A Christian Hermeticist in the mold of Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, his work also examined alchemy, the Kabbalah, and the Egyptian Mystery tradition exemplified by Hermes Trismegistus. Kircher was the first to map ocean currents; the first to offer a comprehensive theory of vulcanism; the first to compile an encyclopedia on China, a dictionary of Coptic, a book dedicated solely to acoustics; the first to construct a machine for coding messages and another for composing music. His museum in Rome was among the most famous "cabinets of curiosities," visited by everybody in the intellectual world. The Hermetic cast of Kircher's thought, which was foreign to the concerns of those propelling the Age of Reason, coupled with the breadth of his interests, caused many of his contributions to be widely overlooked--an oversight now masterfully rectified by Joscelyn Godwin. It has been said that Kircher could think only in images. While this is an exaggeration, 400 of the stunning engravings that are a distinguishing feature of his work are included here so we may fully appreciate, learn from, and see for ourselves the life work, philosophy, and achievements of "the last man who knew everything." JOSCELYN GODWIN, musicologist and translator, is a professor of music at Colgate University. He first explored the life and work of Athanasius Kircher in 1979 in his book A Renaissance Man and the Quest for Lost Knowledge. Godwin was educated at Cambridge and Cornell Universities and has authored and edited many books on Hermeticism and music, including Cosmic Music, The Golden Thread, The Harmony of the Spheres, and Arktos: The Polar Myth. He is also known for his translations of the works of such figures as Fabre d'Olivet and Julius Evola and the first complete English translation of Francesco Colonna's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. He lives in New York state.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
• Seitenzahl: 304
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. September 2009
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 285mm x 261mm x 37mm
• Gewicht: 2091g
• ISBN-13: 9781594773297
• ISBN-10: 1594773297
• Artikelnr.: 26560362

Autorenporträt

Joscelyn Godwin was born in Kelmscott, Oxfordshire, England on January 16, 1945. He was educated as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford, then at Radley College (Music Scholar), and Magdalene College, Cambridge (Music Scholar; B.A., 1965, Mus. B., 1966, M.A. 1969). Coming to the USA in 1966, he did graduate work in Musicology at Cornell University (Ph. D., 1969; dissertation: "The Music of Henry Cowell") and taught at Cleveland State University for two years before joining the Colgate University Music Department in 1971. He has taught at Colgate ever since.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface
Prologue: Interesting Times
1 Kircher's Life and Work: an Overview
2 Frontispieces
3 The Illustration of Kircher's Works
4 Antiquity Misread
5 Antiquity Preserved
6 Antiquity Imagined
7 Naturalia: Fire and Water
8 Naturalia: Air and Earth
9 Music
10 Machines of Past and Present
11 Machines: Magnetic and Optical
12 Maps and Plans
13 Exotica
14 Images of the Gods
15 Didactic Images
Athanasius Kircher's Writings
Bibliography of Works Cited
Sources of Illustrations
Index

Rezensionen

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung | Besprechung von 06.12.2009

Wissen Schönes Gesellschaftsspiel für die Adventssonntage: Themen suchen, zu denen sich Alleswisser Athanasius Kircher nicht geäußert hat. Man wird bis Weihnachten keins finden. Zum Trost kann man dann ja "Athanasius Kircher's Theatre of the World" von Joscelyn Godwin (Thames & Hudson, 47,99 Euro) unter den Baum legen. Es gibt im Moment vermutlich nichts Besseres, ganz sicher nichts schöner Aufgemachtes als dieses Buch. So erfreulich das ist, so deprimierend ist es gleichzeitig, weil man am liebsten gleich eine Neuauflage der Kircher'schen Originaltraktate haben möchte, die sicher auch deshalb die ersten wissenschaftlichen Bestseller waren, weil Kircher, der, schon weil er im Vatikan etwa die Rolle spielte, die bei James Bond "Q" innehat, selber nicht anders als in Bildern dachte, sie dermaßen üppig durchillustrieren ließ, dass man Comics des abendländischen Denkens vor sich zu haben meint. Und nein: Auch "das Internet" ist nicht die richtige Antwort. Kannte Kircher natürlich schon. Schrieb: "Alles ist durch geheime Knoten miteinander verbunden." Und ja: Godwin schreibt genauso angelsächsisch cool, wie ein derart katholisch überkochender Gegenstand es verdient hat.

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