Victorian Alchemy by Eleanor Dobson
An engaging study of how Victorian-era representations of ancient Egypt blended science and mysticism. With its material remnants paradoxically symbolizing both antiquity and modernity to Victorian audiences, ancient Egypt was at once evocative of ancient magical power and of cutting-edge science, a tension that might be productively conceived of as alchemical. Examining literature and other cultural forms including art, photography, and early film, Eleanor Dobson herein traces the myriad ways in which the Victorian fascination with ancient Egypt evoked the entwined forces of magic and science, providing more than a mere setting for Orientalist fantasies and nightmares. From imaging technologies and astronomy to investigations into the electromagnetic spectrum and the human mind itself, this book demonstrates how conceptions of modernity were inextricably bound up in the contemporary reception of the ancient world, illustrating how such ideas took root and flourished in the Victorian era and persist to this day.
Eleanor Dobson is Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature at the University of Birmingham
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781787358508 |
| ISBN 10 | 178735850X |
| Title | Victorian Alchemy |
| Author | Eleanor Dobson |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | UCL Press |
| Year published | 2022-10-06 |
| Number of pages | 279 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |