The Forge And The Crucible: Second Edition
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Very good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
At the crossroads of mythology, religion, and the history of science stands The Forge and the Crucible, Mircea Eliade's landmark study of the spiritual and symbolic dimensions of metallurgy and alchemy across world cultures. Translated from the French by Stephen Corbin, this work argues that the smith, the alchemist, and the miner were not merely craftsmen but sacred figures — masters of transformation who mediated between the raw earth and the divine, between matter and spirit. Eliade traces how ancient civilizations — from China and India to the pre-Columbian Americas and sub-Saharan Africa — imbued the working of metals with cosmological significance, ritual power, and mythic narrative, revealing a profound human desire to participate in and accelerate the processes of nature. As one of the twentieth century's most towering scholars of comparative religion, Eliade brings his characteristic sweep and erudition to bear on a subject that sits at the very origin of human civilisation. His prose is measured yet visionary, weaving archaeological evidence with symbolic interpretation to construct a compelling argument: that alchemy was never merely a proto-chemistry, but a soteriology — a path of spiritual transformation mirroring the purification of metals. This second edition, published by the University of Chicago Press, stands as essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the sacred imagination of early humanity, and leaves one wondering just how much of that ancient fire still burns within us.
Author: Mircea Eliade
Format: Paperback
Genre: Anthropology
Condition remarks:
Book: Very good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
At the crossroads of mythology, religion, and the history of science stands The Forge and the Crucible, Mircea Eliade's landmark study of the spiritual and symbolic dimensions of metallurgy and alchemy across world cultures. Translated from the French by Stephen Corbin, this work argues that the smith, the alchemist, and the miner were not merely craftsmen but sacred figures — masters of transformation who mediated between the raw earth and the divine, between matter and spirit. Eliade traces how ancient civilizations — from China and India to the pre-Columbian Americas and sub-Saharan Africa — imbued the working of metals with cosmological significance, ritual power, and mythic narrative, revealing a profound human desire to participate in and accelerate the processes of nature. As one of the twentieth century's most towering scholars of comparative religion, Eliade brings his characteristic sweep and erudition to bear on a subject that sits at the very origin of human civilisation. His prose is measured yet visionary, weaving archaeological evidence with symbolic interpretation to construct a compelling argument: that alchemy was never merely a proto-chemistry, but a soteriology — a path of spiritual transformation mirroring the purification of metals. This second edition, published by the University of Chicago Press, stands as essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the sacred imagination of early humanity, and leaves one wondering just how much of that ancient fire still burns within us.