Cart
Free Shipping in Australia
Proud to be B-Corp

The Incorruptible Flesh Piero Camporesi

The Incorruptible Flesh By Piero Camporesi

The Incorruptible Flesh by Piero Camporesi


$78,39
Condition - New
Only 2 left

Summary

Professor Camporesi examines what significance the body had for the obsessively religious, superstitious, yet materially bound minds of the pre-industrial age? In this extraordinary and often astounding book, Professor Camporesi traces these ideas back to various documents across the centuries and explores the juxtaposition of medicine and sorcery, cookery and surgery, pharmacy and alchemy.

The Incorruptible Flesh Summary

The Incorruptible Flesh: Bodily Mutation and Mortification in Religion and Folklore by Piero Camporesi

What significance did the body have for the obsessively religious, superstitious, yet materially bound minds of the pre-industrial age? The human body was a constant prey to disease, plague, unhealthy living conditions, the evil effects of druggery and nutritional deficiency, yet the saints seemed to testify to the existence of life beyond this, to a tangible Garden of Eden where all suffering was reversed. The right to entry to this haven was also seen in corporeal terms. The practice of abstemiousness, self-inflicted torture, even the courting of humiliation could trigger visions of beatitude, of the longed-for paradise. In this extraordinary and often astounding book, Professor Camporesi traces these experiences back to various documents across the centuries and explores the juxtaposition of medicine and sorcery, cookery and surgery, pharmacy and alchemy. He opens the window on a fascinating and colourful, if at times violent, world: of levitating and gyrating saints, gardens full of candied fruits and crystalline fountains, amazing exorcisms and arcane medical practices.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Translators Notes; Part I: 1. The 'prodigious manna'; 2. The 'impassible' saint; 3. The dust of Death; 4. Superhuman and heavenly life; Part II: 5. Decay and rebirth; 6. Entomata; 7. Hypercatharsis; 8. The 'clock of health'. Bertoldo changes diet and dies; Part II: 9. Food for heroes; 10. 'Cock's broth'. The cook and the exorcist; 11. 'Everlasting perfumers'; 12. Forbidden games; Part IV: 13. The 'flesh of God'; 14. 'Paradisus voluptatis'; 15. Food sanctuaries; 16. The 'plagues of Africa'. 'Darkness over Egypt'; Index.

Additional information

NLS9780521108829
9780521108829
0521108829
The Incorruptible Flesh: Bodily Mutation and Mortification in Religion and Folklore by Piero Camporesi
New
Paperback
Cambridge University Press
2009-02-12
300
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a new book - be the first to read this copy. With untouched pages and a perfect binding, your brand new copy is ready to be opened for the first time

Customer Reviews - The Incorruptible Flesh