BKMT READING GUIDES

The Real Rule of Four
by Joscelyn Godwin

Published: 2005-04-28
Paperback : 192 pages
0 members reading this now
0 club reading this now
0 members have read this book

Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason's The Rule of Four is already a bookselling phenomenon. The Ivy League super-achievers drew upon an authentic 1499 Renaissance text to create their thriller about two Princeton undergraduates who try to unravel the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia ...

No other editions available.
Add to Club Selections
Add to Possible Club Selections
Add to My Personal Queue
Jump to

Introduction

(

Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason's The Rule of Four is already a bookselling phenomenon. The Ivy League super-achievers drew upon an authentic 1499 Renaissance text to create their thriller about two Princeton undergraduates who try to unravel the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (pronounced "HIP-ne-RO-to-MA-kia PO-li-FEE-li").

The Hypnerotomachia Poliphiliis an erotic, pagan epic, written in a private language peppered with words taken from Latin and Greek and decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphs. It was not translated into English for 500 years, until 1999, when Joscelyn Godwin finally achieved that near-impossible task.

In The Real Rule of Four, Professor Godwin carefully investigates each aspect of the history of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and its use in The Rule of Four, including:

What is the Hypnerotomachia?
Who wrote the Hypnerotomachia? (A central theme of The Rule of Four)
What does the Hypnerotomachia mean?
Places and people in The Rule of Four
Glossary of names and terms in The Rule of Four

Lavishly illustrated with reproductions of the many beautiful woodcuts in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a fold-out color map and photographs of the featured locations at Princeton University, The Real Rule of Four is an indispensable guide to the many fans of Caldwell and Thomason's best-selling novel.

Joscelyn Godwin was a scholar of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and holds a PhD from Cornell University. Since 1971 he has taught at Colgate University, where he is a professor of music. In 1999 Godwin published the first complete English translation of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, called "a masterpiece of clarity and scholarship" by Andrew Graham-Dixon in the London Daily Telegraph. Godwin's other books include Harmonies of Heaven and Earth, Music and the Occult, Arktos: The Polar Myth, The Theosophical Enlightenment and The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance.

Editorial Review

No editorial review at this time.

Excerpt

No Excerpt Currently Available

Discussion Questions

No discussion questions at this time.

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

No notes at this time.

Book Club Recommendations

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
There are no user reviews at this time.
Rate this book
MEMBER LOGIN
Remember me
BECOME A MEMBER it's free

Book Club HQ to over 88,000+ book clubs and ready to welcome yours.

SEARCH OUR READING GUIDES Search
Search




FEATURED EVENTS
PAST AUTHOR CHATS
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Get free weekly updates on top club picks, book giveaways, author events and more
Please wait...