EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

The essays in this volume testify to the far-reaching effects of Emanuel Swedenborg s works in Western culture. From his early days as an ambitious young scientist in the ferment of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment Europe, through his mid-life entrance into an ongoing experience of the spiritual world, to his last decades as a researcher of things spiritual, Swedenborg built a career that left a unique legacy. His vivid descriptions of the nonphysical realm made a powerful impression on minds as diverse as Goethe, Blake, Emerson, Yeats, and Borges.

This book serves as a self-contained resource on Swedenborg s life and thought and as a gateway into further exploration of the labyrinthine garden of Swedenborg s works. It includes a biography, rich in fascinating detail; lively overviews of the content and history of Swedenborg s writings on spiritual topics; and essays tracing Swedenborg s impact in various regions of the world."