A classic encyclopedia of symbols by Catalan polymath Joan Cirlot that illuminates the symbolic underpinnings of myth, modern psychology, literature, and art. For the ancients, beginning with the Egyptians, the study of symbols was the high road to wisdom. In the Orient this understanding has remained active until this day, while in the West it underlies the art of the medieval era and, to a large degree, that of the Renaisance and Baroque, while modern theories of the unconscious have led to a renewed interest in the power of symbols. Cirlot, a poet and art critic, first published his remarkable Dictionary of Symbols in 1958; translated into English, the book established itself as an indispensable resource. Cirlot continued to revise and expand his pioneering work for the rest of his life. This, the first full edition of the dictionary to be published in English, also includes an article by Cirlot’s daughter Victoria, describing the close connections of this endlessly fascinating and stimulating work to surrealism and to anthropology. Publication History: First pub. 1962 “[Cirlot’s] book is not merely a reference work for students of symbology, but a book to be read at leisure. It does indeed provide informative and interesting reading. The longer entries can be read as independent essays, but it is only by reading through the volume steadily that one can become aware of the intricate interrelations of symbolic meanings.”—Catherine D. Rau, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism “[This] is a volume which can either be used as a work of reference, or simply read for pleasure and instruction. There are many entries in this dictionary—those on Architecture, Colour, Cross, Graphics, Mandala, Numbers, Serpent, Water, Zodiac, to give a few examples—which can be read as independent essays. But in general the greatest use of the volume will be for the elucidation of those many symbols which we encounter in the arts and in the history of ideas. Man, it has been said, is a symbolizing animal; it is evident that at no stage in the development of civilization has man been able to dispense with symbols.”—Herbert Read About the Author: J.E. Cirlot (1916 - 1973) was a poet, art critic, hermeneutist, mythologist, and musician. A member of the Amatller Institute of Spanish Art, he wrote several books on the history and theory of art and acted as art an literary advisor for the publishing house Gustavo Gili in Barcelona. Cirlot also published several poetry collections throughout his life and composed music. Herbert Read (1893 - 1968) was an art historian, poet, literary critic, and philosopher. He wrote several books on the role of art in education and was co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary Arts. |