Mental Libraries
The Reception of the Arts of Memory in Literature and Culture
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publishing:13th Jun '25
£145.00
This title is due to be published on 13th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Mental Libraries: The Reception of the Arts of Memory in Literature and Culture explores the enduring legacy of mnemonic systems across literature, visual arts, pedagogy, and cultural production.
Centered on the metaphor of the "mental library," this collection reveals how memory practices functioned as tools for knowledge storage as well as generative frameworks for creativity and invention. The 13 essays trace the reception, adaptation, and transformation of the ars memoriae from late medieval Europe to early modern Spain, Italy, France, and Latin America. Contributors examine canonical figures like Petrarch, Bruno, and Burton, alongside lesser-explored thinkers such as Bartolomeo da Mantova, Zorrilla, and Carrara. With insights from renowned scholars such as Lina Bolzoni and Luis Merino Jerez, the volume offers fresh perspectives on the cultural and intellectual impact of mnemonic systems.
Rich in visual content and interdisciplinary analysis, Mental Libraries bridges past and present, inviting readers to rethink the role of memory in shaping knowledge, literature, and culture.
“Mental Libraries: The Reception of the Arts of Memory in Literature and Culture offers a rich sampling of essays on how early modern knowledge actively structured and accessed mnemonic practices and cultural production, while at the same time stressing that “memory” is not a relic of the past but a driving force in the continuum of human creativity, knowledge production, and cultural expression that continues to inform how we think, imagine, and create across time and space.”
--William E. Engel (Nick B. Williams Professor Literature), Sewanee: The University of the South
ISBN: 9781032852294
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
248 pages