This volume deals with the philosophy and thought of Roger Bacon. It is an effort to bring Roger Bacon studies up to date. Attention is given to a wide range of topics: Bacon's life and works, Bacon's contribution to the trivium (language studies) and the quadrivium (scientific-mathematical studies), his notion of a science, his moral philosophy, Bacon's contribution to medicine, alchemy, astrology, Bacon's positions in physics and metaphysics, an up dated bibliography of Bacon studies and a review of the state of Bacon Manuscripts. The volume situates Roger Bacon in the context of 13th century philosophy and thought, as well as demonstrating his importance for later thinkers. It is expected that it will be a major new contribution to Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

During the later Middle Ages, new optical theories were introduced that located the power of sight not in the seeing subject, but in the passive object of vision. This shift had a powerful impact not only on medieval science but also on theories of knowledge, and this changing relationship of vision and knowledge was a crucial element in late medieval religious devotion. In Seeing through the Veil, Suzanne Conklin Akbari examines several late medieval allegories in the context of contemporary paradigm shifts in scientific and philosophical theories of vision. After a survey on the genre of allegory and an overview of medieval optical theories, Akbari delves into more detailed studies of several medieval literary works, including the Roman de la Rose, Dante's Vita Nuova, Convivio, and Commedia, and Chaucer's dream visions and Canterbury Tales. The final chapter, 'Division and Darkness,' centres on the legacy of allegory in the fifteenth century. Offering a new interdisciplinary, synthetic approach to late medieval intellectual history and to major works within the medieval literary canon, Seeing through the Veil will be an essential resource to the study of medieval literature and culture, as well as philosophy, history of art, and history of science.

These editions (1842-1920) are fascinating for the immediacy of John Dee's accounts of his life as a Renaissance scholar.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1842.