| The Spiritual History of Ice: Romanticism, Science and the Imagination 2003 Edition Contributor(s): Wilson, E. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0230619711 ISBN-13: 9780230619715 Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan OUR PRICE: $61.74 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: November 2009 Annotation: At the turn of the nineteenth century, crystallographers, glaciologists, and polar explorers for the first time demonstrated that frozen shapes are not dead but bearers of vital powers. Aware of this new scientific information, Romantic figures in England and America--including Coleridge and Poe, Percy and Mary Shelley, Emerson and Thoreau--challenged traditional representations of ice as waste and celebrated crystals, glaciers, and the poles as revelations of life as well as models of poetic composition. "The Spiritual History of Ice "explores this ecology of ice in fascinating detail, revealing not only a neglected context of the Romantic age but also the esoteric history and psychology of frozen phenomena |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Modern - 19th Century - Literary Criticism | Poetry - Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh |
| Dewey: 810.936 |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.5" W x 8.4" (0.85 lbs) 278 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: At the end of the eighteenth century, scientists for the first time demonstrated what medieval and renaissance alchemists had long suspected; ice is not lifeless but vital, a crystalline revelation of vigorous powers. Studied in esoteric and exoterical representations of frozen phenomena, several Romantic figures - including Coleridge and Poe, Percy and Mary Shelley, Emerson and Thoreau - challenged traditional notions of ice as waste and instead celebrated crystals, glaciers, and the poles as special disclosures of a holistic principle of being. The Spiritual History of Ice explores this ecology of frozen shapes in fascinating detail, revealing not only a neglected current of the Romantic age but also a secret history and psychology of ice. |