Ægypt
Encyclopedia
Ægypt is a sequence of four novels by John Crowley
. The work describes the work and life of Pierce Moffett, who prepares a manuscript for publication even as it prepares him for some as-yet unknown destiny, all set amidst strange and subtle Hermetic
manipulations among the Faraway Hills at the border of New York
, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania
.
The four volumes mingle Moffett's real and dream life in America in 1977 (and, in an extended coda, into the early 1980s) with the narrative of the manuscript he is preparing for publication. The manuscript, left unfinished by its author Fellowes Kraft, is an historical fiction
that follows the briefly intersecting adventures of Italian
heretic
Giordano Bruno
and of British
occultists John Dee
and Edward Kelley
.
Moffett is trained as a historian, and is under contract to write a popular history covering hermetical themes. Early in the process, he conceives of writing a novel which, it is clear, would be Ægypt; his ruminations on that novel describe the structure of the novel he is in.
The larger novel contains sections from Kraft's other, published, historical novels about Bruno and his contemporaries, John Dee and William Shakespeare, and also from the unfinished manuscript, which might also be called Ægypt.
The titles of the first three volumes in the sequence are tributes to Renaissance
literary works; and in many cases the nature of these works redound on the action of these three novels themselves:
The title of the fourth volume repeats a complaining phrase often spoken by the author of the manuscript that Moffett prepares for publication. It probably alludes to the title and subject matter of Giordano Bruno's De innumerabilibus, immenso et infigurabili ("Of innumerable things, vastness and the unrepresentable").
The sequence is organized around the 12 astrological houses
, with each book divided into three parts, each bearing a Latin name of the corresponding house. The Solitudes parts, for example, are called "Vita", "Lucrum" and "Fratres", the Latin names for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd houses. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/PT/D-dod.html The content of each part bears some relationship to the traditional associations of the house in question. The four volumes themselves correspond to the four seasons, starting with spring and ending in winter.
Harold Bloom
has praised the first three books in the sequence, installing the first two in his 1993 list of the Western canon
. Michael Dirda
, asked in 2007 what his favorite recent book was, named "the four-part sequence by John Crowley called 'Aegypt.'"
Terri Windling
selected Love and Sleep as one of the best fantasy books of 1994, saying "his growing story is a masterpiece."
John Crowley
John Crowley is an American author of fantasy, science fiction and mainstream fiction. He studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer...
. The work describes the work and life of Pierce Moffett, who prepares a manuscript for publication even as it prepares him for some as-yet unknown destiny, all set amidst strange and subtle Hermetic
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
manipulations among the Faraway Hills at the border of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
| Title | Year | Notes |
| The Solitudes | 1987 | Originally published in 1987 as Ægypt, despite Crowley's objections. Revised 2007. World Fantasy Award nominee, 1988; Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 1988 |
| Love & Sleep | 1994 | World Fantasy Award nominee, 1995 |
| Dæmonomania | 2000 | |
| Endless Things | 2007 | Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 2008 |
The four volumes mingle Moffett's real and dream life in America in 1977 (and, in an extended coda, into the early 1980s) with the narrative of the manuscript he is preparing for publication. The manuscript, left unfinished by its author Fellowes Kraft, is an historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
that follows the briefly intersecting adventures of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
and of British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
occultists John Dee
John Dee (mathematician)
John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....
and Edward Kelley
Edward Kelley
Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot was an ambiguous figure in English Renaissance occultism and self-declared spirit medium who worked with John Dee in his magical investigations...
.
Moffett is trained as a historian, and is under contract to write a popular history covering hermetical themes. Early in the process, he conceives of writing a novel which, it is clear, would be Ægypt; his ruminations on that novel describe the structure of the novel he is in.
The larger novel contains sections from Kraft's other, published, historical novels about Bruno and his contemporaries, John Dee and William Shakespeare, and also from the unfinished manuscript, which might also be called Ægypt.
The titles of the first three volumes in the sequence are tributes to Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
literary works; and in many cases the nature of these works redound on the action of these three novels themselves:
- Luis de GóngoraLuis de GóngoraLuis de Góngora y Argote was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered to be the most prominent Spanish poets of their age. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorism...
's Las SoledadesSoledadesLas Soledades is a poem by Luis de Góngora, composed in 1613 in silva in eleven- and seven- syllable lines: hendecasyllables and heptasyllables ....
, or The Solitudes - The anonymous Hypnerotomachia PoliphiliHypnerotomachia PoliphiliHypnerotomachia Poliphili , called in English Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream, is a romance said to be by Francesco Colonna and a famous example of early printing...
, or Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream - Jean BodinJean BodinJean Bodin was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is best known for his theory of sovereignty; he was also an influential writer on demonology....
's De la démonomanie des sorciers, or The Satanic Possession of Witches
The title of the fourth volume repeats a complaining phrase often spoken by the author of the manuscript that Moffett prepares for publication. It probably alludes to the title and subject matter of Giordano Bruno's De innumerabilibus, immenso et infigurabili ("Of innumerable things, vastness and the unrepresentable").
The sequence is organized around the 12 astrological houses
House (astrology)
Most horoscopic traditions of astrology systems divide the horoscope into a number of houses whose positions depend on time and location rather than on date. In Hindu astrological tradition these are known as Bhāvas. The houses of the horoscope represent different spheres of life, described in...
, with each book divided into three parts, each bearing a Latin name of the corresponding house. The Solitudes parts, for example, are called "Vita", "Lucrum" and "Fratres", the Latin names for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd houses. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/PT/D-dod.html The content of each part bears some relationship to the traditional associations of the house in question. The four volumes themselves correspond to the four seasons, starting with spring and ending in winter.
Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, and is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is known for his defense of 19th-century Romantic poets, his unique and controversial theories of poetic influence, and his prodigious literary output, particularly for a literary...
has praised the first three books in the sequence, installing the first two in his 1993 list of the Western canon
Western canon
The term Western canon denotes a canon of books and, more broadly, music and art that have been the most important and influential in shaping Western culture. As such, it includes the "greatest works of artistic merit." Such a canon is important to the theory of educational perennialism and the...
. Michael Dirda
Michael Dirda
Michael Dirda , a Fulbright Fellowship recipient, is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book critic for the Washington Post.-Career:Having studied at Oberlin College for his undergraduate degree, Dirda took a Ph.D. from Cornell University in comparative literature. In 1978 Dirda started writing for the...
, asked in 2007 what his favorite recent book was, named "the four-part sequence by John Crowley called 'Aegypt.'"
Terri Windling
Terri Windling
Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award...
selected Love and Sleep as one of the best fantasy books of 1994, saying "his growing story is a masterpiece."
External links
- Publisher's page for Endless Things
- The Aegypt Cycle at Worlds Without End
See also
- Ron DrummondRon DrummondRonald Norman Drummond is an American writer, editor, and independent scholar, currently living in Troy, New York.-Writer:...