{"product_id":"the-illuminated-or-the-precursors-of-socialism-tales-and-portraits-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 \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-10454623\"\u003eGerard De Nerval\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wakefield Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/23\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781939663740\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1939663741\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC019000\"\u003eLiterary\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC101020\"\u003eWorld Literature | France | 19th Century\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Wakefield Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44539543453933,"sku":"9781939663740","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_7ab2b70a-3c89-4fb6-8f90-02a4813026ec.jpg?v=1701471905","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/the-illuminated-or-the-precursors-of-socialism-tales-and-portraits-9781939663740","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}