Overview

The secrets of nature's alchemy captivated both the scientific and literary imagination of the Middle Ages. This book explores Chaucer's fascination with earth's mutability. Gabrovsky reveals that his poetry represents a major contribution to a medieval worldview centered on the philosophy of physics, astronomy, alchemy, and logic.

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9781137541345

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Reviews

Gabrovsky's insightful book contributes persuasive new evidence to support Chaucer's Renaissance reputation as a master-alchemist. - Terry Jones, author of Chaucer's Knight and Who Murdered Chaucer This is a wonderful and much needed book that responds to recent advances in the history of science and uses them to formulate some striking and provocative readings of Chaucer. Not only does Gabrovsky provide new evidence for the multi-dimensionality of the poet's learning, he also shows us the creativity with which that learning is deployed. Highlights of the book include the alchemical Franklin's Tale, Troilus 'the alembic,' and the discovery of organic decay as a unique sign of 'aliveness.' - Nicolette Zeeman, Senior Lecturer in English Studies, University of Cambridge, UK This remarkable new study of Chaucer's writing is both exciting and impressively learned, informed by the author's knowledge of medieval science at its most complex. Chaucer is shown to be deeply engaged with the metaphysics of change and flux, drawing across his writings on alchemical theory, the science of sound and motion, and more abstract concepts of change related to actual and potential modes of being. Gabrovsky demonstrates persuasively the extent to which Chaucer's writing is imbued with (meta)physical theory, and offers original and sophisticated readings of the dream vision poems, Troilus and Criseyde and The Franklin's Tale. Familiar texts are opened out and made new, an impressive feat in Chaucer scholarship, while the reader also gains considerable knowledge of medieval physics. The book is fundamentally about transformation: its effects will also be transformative for the reader and for Chaucer studies. - Corinne Saunders, Professor of Medieval Literature, University of Durham, UK

This is a wonderful and much needed book that responds to recent advances in the history of science and uses them to formulate some striking and provocative readings of Chaucer. Not only does Gabrovsky provide new evidence for the multi-dimensionality of the poet's learning, he also shows us the creativity with which that learning is deployed. Highlights of the book include the alchemical Franklin's Tale, Troilus 'the alembic,' and the discovery of organic decay as a unique sign of 'aliveness.' - Nicolette Zeeman, Senior Lecturer in English Studies, University of Cambridge, UK This remarkable new study of Chaucer's writing is both exciting and impressively learned, informed by the author's knowledge of medieval science at its most complex. Chaucer is shown to be deeply engaged with the metaphysics of change and flux, drawing across his writings on alchemical theory, the science of sound and motion, and more abstract concepts of change related to actual and potential modes of being. Gabrovsky demonstrates persuasively the extent to which Chaucer's writing is imbued with (meta)physical theory, and offers original and sophisticated readings of the dream vision poems, Troilus and Criseyde and the Franklin's Tale. Familiar texts are opened out and made new, an impressive feat in Chaucer scholarship, while the reader also gains considerable knowledge of medieval physics. The book is fundamentally about transformation: its effects will also be transformative for the reader and for Chaucer studies. - Corinne Saunders, Professor of Medieval Literature, University of Durham, UK

This is a wonderful and much needed book that responds to recent advances in the history of science and uses them to formulate some striking and provocative readings of Chaucer. Not only does Gabrovsky provide new evidence for the multi-dimensionality of the poet's learning, he also shows us the creativity with which that learning is deployed. Highlights of the book include the alchemical Franklin's Tale, Troilus 'the alembic,' and the discovery of organic decay as a unique sign of 'aliveness.' - Nicolette Zeeman, University of Cambridge, UK This remarkable new study of Chaucer's writing is both exciting and impressively learned, informed by the author's knowledge of medieval science at its most complex. Chaucer is shown to be deeply engaged with the metaphysics of change and flux, drawing across his writings on alchemical theory, the science of sound and motion, and more abstract concepts of change related to actual and potential modes of being. Gabrovsky demonstrates persuasively the extent to which Chaucer's writing is imbued with (meta)physical theory, and offers original and sophisticated readings of the dream vision poems, Troilus and Criseyde and the Franklin's Tale. Familiar texts are opened out and made new, an impressive feat in Chaucer scholarship, while the reader also gains considerable knowledge of medieval physics. The book is fundamentally about transformation: its effects will also be transformative for the reader and for Chaucer studies. - Corinne Saunders, University of Durham, UK

Author Information

Alexander N. Gabrovsky holds a PhD in Medieval Literature from Cambridge University, UK and received an MD from VCU School of Medicine, USA. He specializes in alchemical manuscripts, paleopathology, and the history of occult and natural philosophy in the Middle Ages. He has published various journal articles related to disease in mummies, the medical field, history of art and medieval cryptography. He is a physician in Kansas City, USA.

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