The Art of Memory: Frances A Yates

Yates has written here probably the most comprehensive book on memory techniques that has ever existed, taking us right through from Ancient Greece to the dawn of the Enlightenment. The section on Giordano Bruno's contribution is quite simply brilliant. Yates shows both the types of techniques and their moral significance, plus some surprising insights into William Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre. Her understanding of Hermetic techniques is rooted in the beliefs of her time, which sees them as Greek rather than Egyptian. Modern Egyptology has demonstrated that the Hermetic tradition is deeply rooted in Ancient Egypt. For more information I recommend The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs and Egyptian Cosmology: The ABSOLUTE Harmony: The Animated Universe . The Hermetic tradition was dependent on a personal transcendental ecstatic experience. To understand what drove Bruno on, and to have knowledge of the inner structure of Hermetic doctrine, I recommend Divine Magic: HH Classics - Pythagoras: The Seven Sacred Secrets of Manifestation (Hay House Classics)

excellent book

Again an old favourite of mine. This edition I bought for my grandson who is studying at University and claims his memory is not too good. This will put him on the right track. Excellent, well presented, giving a solid history of the art of memory. I recommend it to anyone who has trouble remembering where their shopping list... or simply those preparing for public speaking.. It has many uses for anyone who needs to keep thinhgs in mind. I prefer it to ?Tony ?Buzan's books . He advocates a different way of memory traihing which I studies but found it did jnot work for me. This book did.. and at 86 years old.. my memory is good enough to give a two hour lecture without notes..

Great book!!

If you want to understand the different trends in memory techniques in history, this is an interesting analysis of the trends and influences. If you want to learn any particular memory technique, this is not the book for you. I had hoped to see more recent trends or usage by initiatory groups or detail about how memory techniques were outlined as part of rhetoric. The same ideas about the focus of Bruno and Lull and others are stated in multiple places when comparing with newer influences, and I'd have rather had less repetition of this in favour of more detail. Whole giving a lot of attention to hermetic exploration, there is limited detail given to the memory wheels and theatres to express fully how they might be used, and how it might replace the recommendation to build many memory palaces. I suspect Yates understood the techniques in theory not practice, and as such could not offer any comparison about challenges of diverging techniques

I found this concentrated on a historical perspective. I'd been looking for more links to modern methods of aiding memory.

Excellent book on the memory although I still haven't finished it due to the fact that I put it down somewhere and can't remember where I left it....

nice quality printing! the book i just can guess it is good since i already know the quality of Frances Yates :)

Incredible book. Particularly on building a memory palace and the ancient ways of doing so. Delivered to my door in two days.

Well, almost lost. I was taught to memorize legal arguments by placing memory images in the various rooms of my house. I don’t think many lawyers know this technique, but the Ars Memorativa are as effective today as ever, and for more than your next big closing argument. Yates’ classic gives the history of the technique, its connection with Renaissance occultism, with particular emphasis on Elizabethan culture. Today, search engines have made our memory flabby. Perhaps someday the Art of Memory will once again be put to good use. It will seem as magical as it ever was.

Novamente não estou satisfeito com o livro entregue, encontra leves amassos nas pontas, o que é tolerável e até normal, mas as páginas chegaram bem sujas.

This version of the book is of so poor quality, that I would recommend buying another version. Pages are falling out of mine, after one readthrough, the folder that came with the original print is copied down to one completely unreadable page, etc. Consider another version. You must read this book.

Love the writer the last hundred or so pages are notes which show an obvious pile of work put into creating the book. I wouldn't recommend the book to just anybody: I've bragged about its beauty. This is a book for people to get into whats inside and to amalgamate study. This book is a modern force.