{"product_id":"the-illuminated-or-the-precursors-gerard-de-nerval-9781939663740","title":"The Illuminated; Or the Precursors of Socialism: Tales and Portraits","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePoetical biographies of six radical thinkers from Cagliostro to Restif de la Bretonne, by the leading figure of French Romanticism\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in French in 1852, \u003ci\u003eThe Illuminated\u003c\/i\u003e was the first of a string of Gérard de Nerval's late works that would culminate in his posthumous fantastical autobiography \u003ci\u003eAurélia\u003c\/i\u003e in 1855. \u003ci\u003eThe Illuminated\u003c\/i\u003e collects six portraits of men whom Nerval mysteriously dubbed \"precursors of socialism\"--visionaries who together formed an alternative history of France and a backdrop to a mystical form of madness that Nerval ultimately claimed for himself.\u003cbr\u003eNerval here presents the reader with Raoul Spifame, a mad lawyer who imagined himself to be Henry II; the Abbé de Bucquoy, a man who opposed the monarchy and whose amazing escapes suggested the possession of magical powers; Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne, the 18th-century theosophist who defined God in human terms rather than spiritual; the Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, the famous magus and alchemist; Jacques Cazotte, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Devil in Love\u003c\/i\u003e, who created a synthesis between hermetic ideas and Catholic thought; and Quintus Aucler, a lawyer who sought to revive paganism in the unstable world of French society in the immediate aftermath of the Revolution of 1789.\u003cbr\u003eAn overlooked work by Nerval, \u003ci\u003eThe Illuminated\u003c\/i\u003e brings together the picturesque and pathos, a peculiar gallery of portraits that blur the boundaries between mysticism and mystification.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGérard de Nerval\u003c\/b\u003e (1808-55) was a writer, poet and translator who wedded French and German Romanticism and transformed his research into mystic thought and his bouts of mental illness into such visionary works as \u003ci\u003eAurélia\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gerard De Nerval\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1939663741\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781939663740\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wakefield Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/23\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.20lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.90d","brand":"Gerard De Nerval","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44074281304319,"sku":"9781939663740","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7e3ef66c-dde3-479e-bc95-46620ae0136c.jpg?v=1685452845","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-illuminated-or-the-precursors-gerard-de-nerval-9781939663740","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}