- Paperback: 512 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (6 Aug 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140247939
- ISBN-13: 978-0140247930
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11.2 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,921,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Book Description
An alternative history of the intellectual world
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
Product Description
In this study Baigent and Leigh construct an alternative history of religion and thought which begins with the Hermeticism of 1st century Alexandria and describes its pathways through Europe over the ensuing centuries. Along the way there are tales of individuals, including the Elizabethan magician John Dee and the Franciscan friar and alchemist Roger Bacon.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Some of the history of Hermetism in the first book is interesting but too condensed, names are thrown at you with no explanation of what they did or who they were. The biggest complaint though is the dreadful prose style, never use a short word where a longer one (often used incorrectly) will do, seem to be the authors' maxim, thus people never travel they always peregrinate, the future is never bright always roseate(!) etc. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't done for purely portentous reasons.
The second part dealing with the integration of hermetic ideas into modern life is simply a disconnected mess. Not recommended
The second part dealing with the integration of hermetic ideas into modern life is simply a disconnected mess. Not recommended
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
You can ignore entirely the person who wrote the review claing that this book is (1) badly written ("painful to read") and (2) does not show any proper sequence of events. Both criticisms are not only nonsense but are worse - they are the exact OPPOSITE of the truth. As a matter of fact the thing most striking thing about this work is its fluent beauty of its "poetic prose" style. It is such a pleasure to read, the words rolling off the tongue like honey. The particular criticism of the word "roseate" in place of "bright" is typically ludicrous - the use of more colourful terms (such as "roseate" in place of the more mundane is called poetry, my friends - it makes reading not more "painful" but infinitely more pleasant. As reagrds criticism two, it is so obviously off-the-mark as to not even require comment or counter-criticism. Read the book and you will see just what I mean.
The Elixir and the Stone is a great book and scholarly work - highly recommended for all students of the Hermetic Tradition.
The Elixir and the Stone is a great book and scholarly work - highly recommended for all students of the Hermetic Tradition.
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
the book is a very good introduction into the genesis of Hermetic thought and how it became enmeshed with western intellectual history, to inform the arts, sciences, philosophy and theology in the past 2 millenia. It ticked all the boxes for me because while it zip though periods of history, it asks all the pertinent questions and provided plausible reasons and answers. I don't know enough about the subject to comment on the veracity of some of the conclusions, and as it is not meant to be a scholarly treatise, footnotes are bit scanty, but I came away with a clear and in many ways detailed story of what happened, and this story could only be told be someone who is VERY informed. This is not the first book on alchemy I've read. I have read a number of books on alchemy by academics who are considered experts in the field, and some by people who probably sat in the british library and produced a heavily footnoted tome, and most of these are published by reputable publishers and then hyped by experts who are probably personal friends of the authors, and NONE of them contain the breadth and insights this book has.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Elixir and the stone
I had this book recommended by a friend, it arrived promptly and in excellent condition, it was well priced.
Very pleased with my purchase would use this seller again.
Very pleased with my purchase would use this seller again.
Published on 30 Jun 2009 by Mrs. Sharon Anderson
Poorly researched
I could not bring myself to finish this book. Writing about this subject matter requires a great deal of effort in research. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2001 by Siraf
beautifully written and very engrossing
This book is a fascinating exploration of Hermetic ideas and how they have become gradually subsumed and incorporated into the arts and sciences. Read more
Published on 3 May 2001
A History of the Faust Archetype
An interesting take on the occult/hermetic undercurrents running throughout history. As usual with Baigent and Leigh, the material is well researched and presented, but if you are... Read more
Published on 8 April 2001
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