The Humanist Interpretation of Hieroglyphs in the Allegorical Studies of the Renaissance. This item is unavailable.The Humanist Interpretation of Hieroglyphs in the Allegorical Studies of the Renaissance

The Hieroglyphenkunde by Karl Giehlow published in 1915, described variously by critics as “a masterpiece”, “magnificent”, “monumental” and “incomparable”, is here translated into English for the first time. Giehlow’s work with an initial focus on the Hieroglyphica of Horapollo, the manuscript of which was discovered by Giehlow, was a pioneering attempt to introduce the thesis that Egyptian hieroglyphics had a fundamental influence on the Italian literature of allegory and symbolism and beyond that on the evolution of all Renaissance art.

The present edition includes the illustrations of Albrecht Dürer from the Pirckheimer translation of the Horapollo from the early fifteenth century.

Robin Raybould (MA, LLM, Cambridge) is an independent scholar and linguist specializing in the Renaissance literature of symbolism. His translation and commentary brings Giehlow’s text up to date, greatly augments the original work and results in an important piece of historical scholarship which will open up further avenues of study for a new generation of Renaissance researchers.