In The Mirror of Antiquity, Caroline Winterer uncovers the lost world of American women's classicism during its glory days from the eighteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Overturning the widely held belief that classical learning and political ideals were relevant only to men, she follows the lives of four generations of American women through their diaries, letters, books, needlework, and drawings, demonstrating how classicism was at the center of their experience as mothers, daughters, and wives. Importantly, she pays equal attention to women from the North and from the South, and to the ways that classicism shaped the lives of black women in slavery and freedom.In a strikingly innovative use of both texts and material culture, Winterer exposes the neoclassical world of furnishings, art, and fashion created in part through networks dominated by elite women. Many of these women were at the center of the national experience. Here readers will find Abigail Adams, teaching her children Latin and signing her letters as Portia, the wife of the Roman senator Brutus; the Massachusetts slave Phillis Wheatley, writing poems in imitation of her favorite books, Alexander Pope's Iliad and Odyssey; Dolley Madison, giving advice on Greek taste and style to the U.S. Capitol's architect, Benjamin Latrobe; and the abolitionist and feminist Lydia Maria Child, who showed Americans that modern slavery had its roots in the slave societies of Greece and Rome. Thoroughly embedded in the major ideas and events of the time—the American Revolution, slavery and abolitionism, the rise of a consumer society—this original book is a major contribution to American cultural and intellectual history.

During the last century, writers as diverse as William Golding, Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, Evelyn Waugh, Virginia Woolf, and Laurie Lee, were captivated by Greece. They were joined in their production of travel accounts by hundreds of lesser-known authors. This book exposes how the responses of travellers were conditioned by much more than their own opinions and personalities. The British education system, classical scholarship, and the heroism demonstrated by the Greeks during the Nazi invasion of their country, all contributed to shaping travel narratives. The author analyses the way in which all of the major archaeological sites were described—including the Athenian Acropolis, Delphi, Olympia, Heinrich Schliemann’s Mycenae, and Sir Arthur Evans’ Knossos in Crete. The representation of the modern Greek people, particularly in the period after the Second World War, is also explored at length. Viewed as relics of the past, the Greeks in literature were given the qualities and appearance of their ancestors. David Wills shows how in the hands of twentieth century travel writers, Greece became less a modern country, and more a mirror of antiquity. This book is essential reading for all who are interested in the history of travel and tourism, reception of the classical past, and recent Greek history.

This engaging and witty cultural history traces the evolution of the mirror from antiquity to the present day, illustrating its journey from wondrous object to ordinary trinket. With its earliest invention, the mirror allowed us to gaze upon ourselves, bestowing a power both fascinating and terrifying.

Physiognomy, the history of racial classifications, and the interplay between natural philosophy, medicine, and ethics The idea of the body as a mirror of the soul has fascinated mankind throughout history. Being able to see through an individual, and drawing conclusions on their character solely based on a selection of external features, is the subject of physiognomy, and has a long tradition running well into recent times. However, the pre-modern, especially medieval background of this discipline has remained underexplored. The selected case studies in this volume each contribute to a better understanding of the history of physiognomy from antiquity to the Renaissance, and offer discussions on unedited treatises and on the application, development, and reception of this field of knowledge, as well as on visual sources inspired by physiognomic theory. Contributors: Enikő Békés (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Joël Biard (University of Tours), Lisa Devriese (KU Leuven), Maria Fernanda Ferrini (University of Macerata), Christophe Grellard (École Pratique des Hautes Études), Luís Campos Ribeiro (University of Lisbon), Maria Michela Sassi (University of Pisa), Oleg Voskoboynikov (Higher School of Economics Moscow), Steven J. Williams (New Mexico Highlands University), Joseph Ziegler (University of Haifa), Gabriella Zuccolin (University of Pavia)

Through an examination of university curricula and the writings of classical scholars, Caroline Winterer shows how classics was transformed from a narrow, language-based subject to a broader study of civilization. Building on German Romantic ideals of self-formation, nineteenth-century classicists argued that Americans could avoid modernity's pitfalls of materialism and industrialization by immersing themselves in the spirit of classical antiquity. Classicists pursued this vision by advocating a new pedagogy that shifted the emphasis from Latin to Greek texts.

A collector’s edition of the classic, illustrated, and comprehensive history of magic and the occult • Written by renowned Surrealist and magic scholar Kurt Seligmann (1900-1962) • Includes all 250 illustrations from the original 1948 edition • Explores magical practices and beliefs from their origins in the ancient world through the heyday of secret societies in the 18th century In the occult classic The Mirror of Magic, renowned Surrealist Kurt Seligmann (1900-1962) draws from his encyclopedic practitioner’s knowledge and extensive antiquarian collection to offer a comprehensive, illustrated history of magic and the occult from Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt through the 18th century. He explores the gods and divinatory arts of the legendary Sumerians and the star-wise Babylonians, including the birth of astrology. He examines the afterlife beliefs of the ancient Egyptians and the dream interpretation practices and oracles of ancient Greece, including the mysteries of Eleusis and the magical philosophy of Plato, Socrates, and other Greeks. He uncovers the origins of Gnosticism and the suppression and banishment of magic by the post-pagan, Christian emperors of Rome. Seligmann reviews the principles of alchemy, sharing famous transmutations and allegorical illustrations of the alchemical process and explores the Hermetica and its remarkable adepts. Investigating the Middle Ages, the author discusses the work of European magicians of the time, including Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, Agrippa, Nostradamus, and Pico Della Mirandola. He studies the medieval practices of devil worship, witchcraft, and black magic, as well as the “Cabala” in both its Hebrew and Christian forms. He also examines the art of the Tarot and many lesser known divination techniques. He explores the development of secret societies, including Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism, in the 17th century and the increase in occult publications and magical science in the 18th century. First published in 1948, this history of magic and the occult seeks to “mirror” the magical worldview throughout the ages. Beautifully illustrated with images from the author’s rare library, this collector’s edition features all of the artwork--more than 250 images--from the original 1948 edition.

Exposes the many cycles of monument destruction and cultural suppression in Egypt from antiquity to the present day • Details the vandalism of Egyptian antiquities and suppression of ancient knowledge under foreign rulers who sought to cleanse Egypt of its “pagan” past • Reveals the real reason behind Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt: Freemasonry • Shows how the censorship of nonofficial Egyptology as well as new archaeological discoveries continued under Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass Called the “Mirror of Heaven” by Hermes-Thoth and regarded as the birthplace of civilization, science, religion, and magic, Egypt has ignited the imagination of all who come in contact with it since ancient times--from Pythagoras and Plato to Alexander the Great and Napoleon to modern Egyptologists the world over. Yet, despite this preeminence in the collective mind, Egypt has suffered considerable destruction over the centuries. Even before the burning of the Great Library at Alexandria, the land of the pharaohs was pillaged by its own people. With the arrival of foreign rulers, both Arabic and European, the destruction and thievery continued along with suppression of ancient knowledge as some rulers sought to cleanse Egypt of its “pagan” past. Exploring the many cycles of destruction and suppression in Egypt as well as moments of salvation, such as the first registered excavations by Auguste Mariette, Robert Bauval and Ahmed Osman investigate the many conquerors of Egypt through the millennia as well as what has happened to famous artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone. They show how Napoleon, through his invasion, wanted to revive ancient Egyptian wisdom and art because of its many connections to Freemasonry. They reveal how the degradation of monuments, theft of relics, and censorship of ancient teachings continue to this day. Exposing recent cover-ups during the tenure of Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass, they explain how new discoveries at Giza were closed to further research. Clearing cultural and historical distortions, the authors reveal the long-hidden and persecuted voice of ancient Egypt and call for the return of Egypt to its rightful place as “the Mother of Nations” and “the Mirror of Heaven.”