The Art of Memory
9780226950013
The Art of Memory
One of Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century
In this classic study of how people learned to retain vast stores of knowledge before the invention of the printed page, Frances A. Yates traces the art of memory from its treatment by Greek orators, through its Gothic transformations in the Middle Ages, to the occult forms it took in the Renaissance, and finally to its use in the seventeenth century. This book, the first to relate the art of memory to the history of culture as a whole, was revolutionary when it first appeared and continues to mesmerize readers with its lucid and revelatory insights.
In this classic study of how people learned to retain vast stores of knowledge before the invention of the printed page, Frances A. Yates traces the art of memory from its treatment by Greek orators, through its Gothic transformations in the Middle Ages, to the occult forms it took in the Renaissance, and finally to its use in the seventeenth century. This book, the first to relate the art of memory to the history of culture as a whole, was revolutionary when it first appeared and continues to mesmerize readers with its lucid and revelatory insights.
464 pages | Illus. | 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 | © 1974
History: General History, History of Ideas
Psychology: General Psychology
Table of Contents
Preface
I. The Three Latin Sources for the Classical Art of Memory
II. The Art of Memory in Greece: Memory and the Soul
III. The Art of Memory in the Middle Ages
IV. Mediaeval Memory and the Formation of Imagery
V. The Memory Treatises
VI. Renaissance Memory: The Memory Theatre of Giulio Camillo
VII. Camillo’s Theatre and the Venetial Renaissance
VIII. Lullism as an Art of Memory
IX. Giordano Bruno: The Secret of Shadows
X. Ramism as an Art of Memory
XI. Giordano Bruno: The Secret of Seals
XII. Conflict between Brunian and Ramist Memory
XIII. Girodano Bruno: Last Works on Memory
XIV. The Art of Memory and Bruno’s Italian Dialogues
XV. The Theatre Memory System of Robert Fludd
XVI. Fludd’s Memory Theatre and the Globe Theatre
XVII. The Art of Memory and the Growth of Scientific Method
Index
I. The Three Latin Sources for the Classical Art of Memory
II. The Art of Memory in Greece: Memory and the Soul
III. The Art of Memory in the Middle Ages
IV. Mediaeval Memory and the Formation of Imagery
V. The Memory Treatises
VI. Renaissance Memory: The Memory Theatre of Giulio Camillo
VII. Camillo’s Theatre and the Venetial Renaissance
VIII. Lullism as an Art of Memory
IX. Giordano Bruno: The Secret of Shadows
X. Ramism as an Art of Memory
XI. Giordano Bruno: The Secret of Seals
XII. Conflict between Brunian and Ramist Memory
XIII. Girodano Bruno: Last Works on Memory
XIV. The Art of Memory and Bruno’s Italian Dialogues
XV. The Theatre Memory System of Robert Fludd
XVI. Fludd’s Memory Theatre and the Globe Theatre
XVII. The Art of Memory and the Growth of Scientific Method
Index