Robert Fludd

An illustrated reference book on a seminal figure of occult philosophy and Renaissance thought • Explains Fludd’s thoughts on cosmic harmonies, divination, the kabbalah, astrology, geomancy, alchemy, the Rosicrucians, and multiple levels of existence • Includes more than 200 of Fludd’s illustrations, representing the whole corpus of Fludd’s iconography, each one accompanied by Godwin’s expert commentary • Explores Fludd’s medical work as an esoteric Paracelsian physician and his theories on the macrocosm of elements, planets, stars, and subtle and divine beings and the microcosm of the human being and its creative activities, including material never before translated One of the last Renaissance men, Robert Fludd (1574-1637) was one of the great minds of the early modern period. A physician by profession, he was also a Christian Hermetist, a Rosicrucian, an alchemist, astrologer, musician, and inventor. His drive to encompass the whole of human knowledge--from music to alchemy, from palmistry to fortification--resulted in a series of books remarkable for their hundreds of engravings, a body of work recognized as the first example of a fully-illustrated encyclopedia. In this in-depth, highly illustrated reference, scholar and linguist Joscelyn Godwin explains Fludd’s theories on the correspondence between the macrocosm of elements, planets, stars, and subtle and divine beings and the microcosm of the human being and its creative activities. He shows how Fludd’s two worlds--the macrocosm and the microcosm--along with Paracelsus’s medical principles and the works of Hermes Trismegistus provided the foundation for his search for the cause and cure of all diseases. The more than 200 illustrations in the book represent the whole corpus of Fludd’s iconography, each one accompanied by Godwin’s expert commentary and explanation. Sharing many passages translated for the first time from Fludd’s Latin, allowing him to speak for himself, Godwin explores Fludd’s thoughts on cosmic harmonies, divination, the kabbalah, astrology, geomancy, and the rapport between the multiple levels of existence. He also analyzes Fludd’s writings in defense of alchemy and the Rosicrucians. An essential reference for scholars of Renaissance thinkers, traditional cosmology, metaphysics, and the Western esoteric tradition, this book offers intimate access to Fludd’s worlds and gives one a feel for an epoch in which magic, science, philosophy, spirituality, and imagination could still cohabit and harmonize within a single mind.

Renaissance man, Elizabethan philsopher, and scholar Robert Fludd sought to integrate the whole of human knowledge within a divine and hierarchically ordered cosmology. After completing his education at Oxford University, he journeyed throughout Europe seeking the knowledge of mystics, scientists, musicians, physicians, and alchemists, leading to the publication of many historically influential works on science, medicine, and philosophy.

Robert Fludd was one of the last true 'Renaissance men' who took all learning as their preserve and tried to encompass the whole of human knowledge. His voluminous writings were devoted to defending the philosophy of the alchemists and Rosicrucians, and applying their doctrines to a vast description of man and the universe. Expounding the ideas of cosmic harmony, the multiple levels of existence and the correlations between them, Fludd summarizes esoteric teachings common to all ages and peoples. Fludd had a genius for expressing his philosophy and cosmology in graphic form, and his works were copiously illustrated by some of the best engravers of his day. All of Fludd's important plates are collected here for the first time, annotated and explained, together with an introduction to his life and thought.

Robert Fludd (1574-1637) is well known among historians of science and philosophy for his intriguing work, The Metaphysical, Physical and Technical History of both Major and Minor Worlds, in which music plays an important role in his system of neoplatonic correspondences: the harmony of the universe (macrocosm) as well as the harmony of man (microcosm). 'The Temple of Music' (1617-18) is one section of this work, and deals with music theory, practice and organology. Many musicologists today have dismissed his musical ideas as conservative and outmoded or mainly based on fantasy; only the chapters on instruments have received some attention. However, reading Fludd's work on music theory and practice in the context of his own time and comparing it with other contemporary treatises, it is apparent that much of it contains highly original ideas and cannot be considered old fashioned or conservative. It is evident that Fludd's music philosophy influenced and provoked contemporary natural philosophers such as Marin Mersenne and Johannes Kepler. Less well known is the fact that Fludd's music theory reveals aspects of the development of new concepts that appear to reflect contemporary writers on music such as John Coprario and Thomas Campion. Before now, 'The Temple of Music' has not been easily accessible or available, and the fact that Fludd wrote in Latin has also been prohibitive. This critical edition provides the original Latin, an English translation and essential illustrations. The book will therefore be a useful tool for understanding the position of English music theory around 1600.

The Journal of Early Modern Studies is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal of intellectual history, dedicated to the exploration of the interactions between philosophy, science and religion in Early Modern Europe.

This re-examination of alchemical engravings of the late Renaissance uses an innovative semiotic method in analysing their geometrical and optical rhetorical devices. The images are contextualised within contemporary metaphysics, specifically, the discourse of light, and in Protestant reformism.