Picture 1 of 12
The Holy Grail : Imagination and Belief by Richard W. Barber (2004, Hardcover)
Condition:
Postage:
Located in: Pittsford, New York, United States
Delivery:
Estimated between Fri, 21 Jun and Wed, 26 Jun to 43230
Returns:
Coverage:
Read item description or contact seller for details. See all detailsSee all details on coverage
(Not eligible for eBay purchase protection programmes)
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:315361561693
Item specifics
- Condition
- Brand New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
- ISBN
- 9780674013902
- Book Title
- Holy Grail : Imagination and Belief
- Item Length
- 9.2 in
- Publisher
- Harvard University Press
- Publication Year
- 2004
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Illustrator
- Yes
- Genre
- Religion, History, Social Science
- Topic
- Folklore & Mythology, History, Europe / Medieval
- Item Width
- 6.1 in
- Item Weight
- 30.5 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 488 Pages
About this product
Product Information
The elusive image of the Holy Grail has haunted the Western imagination for eight centuries. It represents the ideal of an unattainable yet infinitely desirable goal, the possibility of perfection. Initially conceived in literature, it became a Christian icon which has been re-created in a multitude of forms over time even though the Grail has no specific material attributes or true religious significance. Richard Barber traces the history of the legends surrounding the Holy Grail, beginning with ChrÉtien de Troyes's great romances of the twelfth century and the medieval Church's religious version of the secular ideal. He pursues the myths through Victorian obsessions and enthusiasms to the popular bestsellers of the late twentieth century that have embraced its mysteries. Crisscrossing the borders of fiction and spirituality, the quest for the Holy Grail has long attracted writers, artists, and admirers of the esoteric. It has been a recurrent theme in tales of imagination and belief which have laid claim to the highest religious and secular ideals and experiences. From Lancelot to Parsifal, chivalric romances to Wagner's Ring, T. S. Eliot to Monty Python, the Grail has fascinated and lured the Western imagination from beyond the reach of the ordinary world.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Harvard University Press
ISBN-10
0674013905
ISBN-13
9780674013902
eBay Product ID (ePID)
30449278
Product Key Features
Book Title
Holy Grail : Imagination and Belief
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Folklore & Mythology, History, Europe / Medieval
Publication Year
2004
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Religion, History, Social Science
Number of Pages
488 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
9.2 in
Item Width
6.1 in
Item Weight
30.5 Oz
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
Pn686.G7b27 2004
Reviews
Richard Barber, who possesses both the medievalist expertise and the requisite calmness and clarity of thought...has produced a really valuable and fascinating book...Not only has Richard Barber dealt skilfully with the original medieval evidence; he has also traced the long after-life of the Grail legend, above all in its various 19th- and 20th-century avatars. This not only gives him the chance to investigate some modern literary history (Charles Williams, John Cowper Powys, et al); it also enables him to take a properly historical attitude to the various 'loony tunes' modern theories, by setting them in their own historical context...Overall, then, this is the most reassuringly sane of all modern writings on the whole 'Holy Grail' phenomenon. One finishes the book just wishing there were more works like it., Consistently fascinating...It is essential reading for anyone interested in Arthurian romances and, chapter after chapter, offers sober correctives to countless misconceptions about the Grail and its supposed secret meanings...I doubt that anywhere else will one find so thorough and comprehensive an examination of the Grail, nor as careful and interesting a survey of the medieval stories that started it all. The Holy Grail is a major contribution to Arthuriana., Barber...demonstrates a gift for lucid, lively prose and an ability to make highly complex developments--cutting across religion, literature and politics--both immediate and accessible...[He] does a dexterous job of conveying the mood and texture of [the] variations on the Grail story, while at the same time illuminating the religious and political dramas that informed their creation...[M]akes for engaging reading as both literary criticism and cultural history, thanks largely to the author's fluency and aplomb as a writer., Barber is an Arthurian expert whose purpose is to hack a path through the muddled, corrupted and conflicting versions of the grail story...[He] is scrupulous in his fairness, his conclusions are interesting and although he keeps his reins tight on some fun he might have had, he performs a valuable service in rescuing the original grail from 800 years of garbled and improbable misreadings., This book is a survey, as judicious as it is comprehensive, of versions of the Grail story, of the social and ideological contexts in which they evolved, of the symbols they employ and the literary conventions which shaped them. In it, Barber arrives at the conclusion, which will be shocking to new agers and conspiracy theorists everywhere, that the story of the Holy Grail had (in its original form) nothing to do with the cabbala, Cathars, Templars, Zoroastrians or Gnostics, that its origin is probably the obvious one, the first text in which it appears. The story of the Holy Grail is not a fragment of immemorially ancient lore: Chrétien de Troyes, the 12th-century author of the Le Roman de Perceval, made it up...In a book which consists largely of summaries of numerous versions of a single story some repetition is inevitable--this is a volume to browse in rather than one to read straight through--but Barber's sensitivity to the diversity of nuances in each of his many sources ensures that each one he looks at affords him some fresh insight. The result is a fascinating compendium of theology, literary criticism and cultural history., This is a stimulating study, which authoritatively explores one of the most enduring myths of Western culture. Its combination of scholarship and clarity might itself be described as an intellectual Holy Grail., Richard Barber's splendid new book presents a comprehensive survey of the search for the Holy Grail from the 12th century to the present day. It is part summary of the medieval romances and part synthesis of the commentary and interpretation that the Holy Grail has attracted...[T]his is a rich book, and like the romances it discusses, taps into a seemingly unending well of meaning. Barber has created a splendid foundation for a continuation to a compelling story., What we need is a cool-headed guide through the Grail's long and curious history, and in Richard Barber's lucid, fair-minded, and wide-ranging book, we get it.
Copyright Date
2004
Target Audience
Trade
Lccn
2003-056836
Dewey Decimal
398.4
Dewey Edition
22
Item description from the seller
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:315361561693
Postage and handling
Item location:
Pittsford, New York, United States
Post to:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Excludes:
Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Venezuela
| Postage and handling | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| US $12.50 (approx S$ 16.93) | United States | Expedited Postage (USPS Priority Mail®) | Estimated between Fri, 21 Jun and Wed, 26 Jun to 43230 |
| Handling time |
|---|
| Will usually post within 3 business days of receiving cleared payment. |
| Taxes |
|---|
| Taxes may be applicable at checkout. Learn moreLearn more about paying tax on eBay purchases. |
Sales Tax for an item #315361561693
Sales Tax for an item #315361561693
Seller collects sales tax for items shipped to the following states:
| State | Sales Tax Rate |
|---|
Return policy
| Return policy details |
|---|
| The seller will not accept returns for this item. |
Seller feedback (35)
c***i (288)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Fast shipping. Great communication. Fun and stylish sunglasses!
g***i- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Fast shipping, 5 Star ⭐️ seller !
i***e (933)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Wonderful item, thank you!