Selected from the 2003 conference of the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science, 12 papers explore pre-modern medical history from a range of perspectives. Scholars of literature
A leading German theosophical writer, Karl Kiesewetter (1854–95) published several influential works in the years just before his early death. They included a history of modern esotericism (1891), a biography of Mesmer (1893, also reissued in this series), studies of John Dee and of the Faust legend (both 1893), and this two-volume account of occult beliefs and practices in the ancient world (1895), which was completed by Ludwig Kuhlenbeck (1857–1920), a scholar of ancient philosophy and law. Volume 1 focuses on the civilisations of the ancient Near East, including Babylon, Persia, Egypt and Israel, and also contains a chapter on South Asia. Each general description is followed by more detailed investigations of particular aspects of that community, such as individuals (Zoroaster), practices (divination, healing and magic), teachings and texts (the Kabbalah and the Bundehesh), together with textual excerpts (in German translation).
A leading German theosophical writer, Karl Kiesewetter (1854–95) published several influential works in the years just before his early death. They included a history of modern esotericism (1891), a biography of Mesmer (1893, also reissued in this series), studies of John Dee and of the Faust legend (both 1893), and this two-volume account of occult beliefs and practices in the ancient world (1895), which was completed by Ludwig Kuhlenbeck (1857–1920), a scholar of ancient philosophy and law. Volume 2 focuses on the civilisations of the Mediterranean (Greece, Alexandria, Rome) and northern Europe (the Germanic and Celtic peoples). Each general description is followed by more detailed investigations of particular aspects of that community, such as individuals (Socrates, Philo and Pythagoras), practices (divination, healing and oracles), and teachings (gnosticism, Manicheanism and creation, the afterlife), together with textual excerpts (in German translation).
This provocative study assesses at length and in detail the validity and significance of the claim, first made in 1863, that Shelley suffered throughout his life from a youthful contraction of venereal disease. The authors have undertaken vigourous research and consulted little-known medical works of the period 1780–1830 (including a number by Shelley's own doctors), and have interwoven their examination with a description of early nineteenth-century attitudes towards venereal disease (which parallel in some respects present-day fears raised by the threat of AIDS). The book is not, however, simply an investigation of a biographical mystery. The authors' cardinal aim is to reveal the importance of the meaning of disease and healing in Shelley's poetry. They document through specific and concrete textual analysis the extent to which the image of venereal plague functions for Shelley as a metaphor of evil, and they show how his schoolboy fascination with the panacea and his fugitive ambit
