A rollicking history of mass folly — tulip mania, alchemy, witch-hunts, and speculative bubbles that swept whole nations.
Books mentioned in Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (32)
De Constantia by Justus Lipsius: “Many learned men, including Pompeius de Angelis and the celebrated Lipsius of Leyden, the author of the treatise "De Constantia," were passionately fond of tulips.”
Lives of the Necromancers by William Godwin: “Lenglet, Histoire de la Philosophie Hermetique. See also Godwin's Lives of the Necromancers.”
Le Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun: “Among the works written by Nicholas Flamel on the subject of alchymy is The Philosophic Summary, a poem, reprinted in 1735, as an appendix to the third volume of the Roman de la Rose.”
De Incertitudine et Vanitate Scientiarum by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim: “Louvain, in which city he wrote his famous work on the Vanity and Nothingness of Human Knowledge. He also wrote to please his royal mistress, a treatise upon the Superiority of the Female Sex, which he dedicated to her in token of his gratitude”
Summum Bonum by Robert Fludd: “This book was published at Frankfort, and was entitled Summum Bonum, quod est Magiae, Cabalae, Alchimiae, Fratrum, Roseae-Crucis verorum, et adversus Mersenium Calumniatorem.”
Aurora by Jakob Boehme: “In the year 1612, after a meditation of four years, he published his first work, entitled Aurora, or the Rising of the Sun; embodying the ridiculous notions of Paracelsus”
The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope: “From the same source Pope drew the airy tenants of Belinda's dressing-room, in his charming Rape of the Lock”
Miscellanies by Jonathan Swift: “A satirical account of this folly is given in Swift's Miscellanies, vol. iii., entitled A true and faithful Narrative of what passed in London on a Rumour of the Day of Judgment.”
The Life of Merlin by Thomas Heywood: “In a Life of Merlin, with his Prophecies and Predictions interpreted and made good by our English Annals, by Thomas Heywood, published in the reign of Charles I., we find several of these pretended prophecies.”
Grafton's Chronicle by Richard Grafton: “A very graphic and amusing account of this pretended prophet is given by Grafton, in his Chronicles of England.”
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser: “How beautiful is the description of it given by Spenser in his Faerie Queene! The lines need no apology for their repetition here, and any sketch of the great prophet of Britain would be incomplete without them:”
Hudibras by Samuel Butler: “From Butler's Hudibras, and its curious notes, we may learn what immense numbers of these fellows lived upon the credulity of mankind in that age of witchcraft and diablerie.”
The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Walter Scott: “Reginald Scott, quoted by Sir Walter Scott, in the notes to the Lay of the last Minstrel, c. iii. v. xxiii.”
Of the Imagination, as a Cause and as a Cure of Disorders of the Body by John Haygarth: “An account of these matters was published by Dr. Haygarth, in a small volume entitled, Of the Imagination, as a Cause and Cure of Disorders, exemplified by fictitious Tractors. The exposure was a coup de grace to the system of Mr. Perkins.”
Histoire critique du magnétisme animal by J. P. F. Deleuze: “not dispersed until M. Deleuze published, in 1813, his Histoire Critique du Magnetisme Animal. This work gave a new impulse to the half-forgotten fancy.”
Paradise Lost by John Milton: “A forest huge of spears; and thronging helms Appear'd, and serried shields, in thick array, Of depth immeasurable. Paradise Lost.”
History of the Crusades by Joseph François Michaud: “M. Michaud, in his History of the Crusades, M. Guinguene, in his Literary History of Italy, and some other critics, have objected to Tasso's poem, that”
Daemonologie by King James VI and I: “In the year 1597, he published in Edinburgh his famous treatise on Demonology.”
Saducismus Triumphatus by Joseph Glanvill: “To convince them, the learned and Reverend Joseph Glanvil wrote his well-known work, Sadducismus Triumphatus, and The Collection of Relations; the first part intended as a philosophical inquiry into witchcraft, and the power of the devil "to assume a mortal shape:" the latter containing what he considered a multitude of…”
Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer: “The commissioners named by Innocent VIII. to prosecute the witch-trials in Germany were, Jacob Sprenger, so notorious for his work on demonology, entitled the Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer to knock down Witches;”
Cinq-Mars by Alfred de Vigny: “A very graphic account of the execution of this unfortunate gentleman is to be found in the excellent romance of M. Alfred de Vigny, entitled Cinq Mars;”
Histoire des diables de Loudun by Nicolas Aubin: “he is referred to a work published anonymously, at Amsterdam, in 1693, entitled Histoire des Diables de Loudun, ou de la Possession des Religieuses Ursulines, et de la Condemnation et du Supplice d'Urbain Grandier.”
Cautio Criminalis by Friedrich Spee: “One of these Jesuits was Frederick Spee, the author of the Cautio Criminalis, published in 1631. This work, exposing the horrors of the witch-trials, had a most salutary effect in Germany:”
The Forerunner of Revenge by George Eglisham: “In the second volume of the Harleian Miscellany, there is a tract, entitled the Forerunner of Revenge, written by George Eglisham, doctor of medicine, and one of the physicians to King James.”
The Age of Louis XIV by Voltaire: “This is denied by Voltaire in his Age of Louis XIV.; but he does not state for what reason.”
Macbeth by William Shakespeare: “Here's a knocking indeed!... Knock! knock! knock!... Who's there, i' the name o' Beelzebub?... Who's there, i' the devil's name? Knock! knock! knock!--Never at quiet?--Macbeth.”
The Monastery by Walter Scott: “and the worst of it was, that, like good Father Philip in the romance of The Monastery, they seemed utterly unable to change their tune.”
The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: “Shakspeare's Rape of Lucretia.”
The Dunciad by Alexander Pope: “the following account is given in the notes to The Dunciad, and quoted by Johnson in his Lives of the Poets: "This piece was received with greater applause than was ever known.”
Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets by Samuel Johnson: “the following account is given in the notes to The Dunciad, and quoted by Johnson in his Lives of the Poets: "This piece was received with greater applause than was ever known.”
News from Scotland: “News from Scotland, declaring the Damnable Life of Dr. Fian.”
Books that mention Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: “O’Hare looked it up in a book he had, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay, LL. D.”