The Mirror: A History"Melchior-Bonnet embellishes The Mirror with numerous surprising and compelling anecdotes. She describes Johannes Gutenberg plying his metallurgical skills to produce mirrors before turning to the printing press, and narrates how the Venetian Republic employed a combination of both subtle intimidation and outright assassination to protect its mirror-making secrets. Lewis Carroll's playful treatment of the mirror is contrasted to a short story of Rainer Maria Rilke, which describes the potential for madness within the reflective glass. The modern psyche's confusion in a world dominated by images is best captured by Andy Warhol's quip, "I am sure that I am going to look into the mirror and see nothing."" "The Mirror is cultural history at its best: a dazzling, virtuoso performance that readers of books like Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms or Robert Darnton's The Great Massacre will not be able to pass up."--BOOK JACKET. |
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Alain de Lille anamorphosis appearance artifice beautiful body catoptromancy Cited Colbert crystal death decorated desire devil Dictionnaire discovers distorted divine double dream eighteenth century engravings envy face frames France François French Gallimard Gallimard La Pléiade gaze glaces glass glassmakers glassworks grooming Histoire honnête homme identity illusion imagination interior inventories Italian Jean Jean de Meung L'Art La Pléiade light looking Louis XIV Louis-Sébastien Mercier lover Madame magic Manufacture royale master Mercier Mercure galant Miroir mirror image mirror makers mirror stage mirrored armoire moral Murano Narcissus Néhou object offered one's oneself optical ovens painter painting panes Paris Parisian perspective Pierre poet Poliphilo polished portrait pounds reality reflection resemblance Reuilly revealed Royal Company Saint Saint-Gobain secret self-portrait seventeenth century siècle silver social soul space spectacle specular Speculum symbolic theme tion Tourlaville truth vanity Venetian Venetian Republic Venice woman women workers young