The spiritual history of ice : romanticism, science, and the imagination / Eric G. Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Eric, 1967-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--19th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

Ice in literature.

English literature--20th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

Arctic regions--In literature.

Arctic regions.

Polar regions--In literature.

Polar regions.

Antarctica--In literature.

Antarctica.

Crystals in literature.

Glaciers in literature.

Romanticism.

Arctic Regions.

Physical Description:

viii, 278 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Summary:

At the turn of the nineteenth century, crystallographers, glaciologists, and polar explorers for the first time demonstrated that frozen shapes are not dead but bearers of vital powers. Aware of this new scientific information, Romantic figures in England and America--including Coleridge and Poe, Percy and Mary Shelley, Emerson and Thoreau--challenged traditional representations of ice as waste and celebrated crystals, glaciers, and the poles as revelations of life as well as models of poetic composition. "The Spiritual History of Ice "explores this ecology of ice in fascinating detail, revealing not only a neglected context of the Romantic age but also the esoteric history and psychology of frozen phenomena

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [221]-270) and index.

ISBN:

0312292996

OCLC:

50559764

Online:

Publisher description