Item #1298 Héloïse and Abélard. Etienne Gilson.
Héloïse and Abélard
Héloïse and Abélard
Héloïse and Abélard
Héloïse and Abélard

Héloïse and Abélard

London: Hollis & Carter, 1953. First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, gilt spine, top edge blue, original dust jacket. Previous copyright notice inked over, faint soiling to rear panel of jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #1298

"THIS IMPASSIONED DRAMA PLAYED BY CLERICS AND MONKS AND NUNS IS VERY MUCH A STORY OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. IT CAN READ AS A CHRISTIAN STORY BECAUSE, IN VERY TRUTH, IT IS ONE"

First British edition of Héloïse and Abélard—Etienne Gilson's masterful appreciation of one of the great love stories of human history. A bright, fresh copy.

Gilson's interest in the medieval Scholastic philosopher, Peter Abélard, grew out of his 1936-37 lectures (The Medieval Origins of Humanism) and led him, inevitably, to Héloïse d'Argenteuil. "I was very far from realizing that I should have to devote quite as much attention to Héloise as to Abélard himself, and that once entered into their story, I should find it very difficult to leave off." Gilson manages to capture the sense of drama surrounding the doomed twelfth-century lovers. In his lengthy Introduction, Gilson describes the centrality of the Correspondence: "When all is said and done, the Correspondence is the only work which it is really necessary o read in order to understand this drama. It is a human document of such wealth and beauty that it may be duly ranked among the most pieces in all of literature." The book consists of: I. Sources of the Drama, II. The Secrecy of the Marriage, III. Between Two Separations, IV. The Ethics of Pure Love, V. The Conversion of Abélard, VI. The Mystery of Héloise, VII. The End of the Drama, VIII. Conclusion. With an Appendix: "the Authenticity of the Correspondence between Héloise and Abélard" and extensive Notes. Originally published in France (1948) and then translated by L.K. Shook (of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto) and published in English in 1951. Laurence Shook went on to write a biography of Gilson in 1984.

Price: $75.00

See all items in Biography, Literature , Medieval
See all items by