Hamlet's Mill. An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time. SIGNED BY "GIORGIO"

SANTILLANA, Giorgio De & Hertha von DECHEND

Published by London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1970.

About this Item

xxiii, 505 pp; illustrations. Original cloth. Light staining of lower corner of front cover. Bottom fore edge of pages stained (see photo). Good, in worn and stained dust jacket. The staining is on the blank verso of the dust jacket (see photo). At least the front flap of the dust jacket is not priced-clipped! SIGNED BY "GIORGIO": "To Heka/ with love/ Giorgio/ Oct 19, 1971" (see photo). I cannot prove this "Giorgio" is the author Giorgio de Santillana, but he probably is. First British Edition (originally published by Boston: Gambit, Incorporated, in 1969). Printed in the U.S.A. by The Riverside Press, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts. Quoting the Wikipedia article on Giorgio de Santillana: "In 1969, he published his book Hamlet's Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time, coauthored with Hertha von Dechend (1915 2001) after he was inspired by her original research shared with him in 1959. This book covered possible connections between the mythological stories of Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Ancient Greece, Christianity, etc. and ancient observations pertaining to the stars, planets, and, most notably, the 26,000-year precession of the equinoxes, now categorized into the fields of ethnoastronomy and archaeoastronomy. Santillana's colleague Nathan Sivin described the book as 'an end run around those scholarly custodians of the history of early astronomy who consider myths best ignored, and those ethnologists who consider astronomy best ignored, to arouse public enthusiasm for exploration into the astronomical content of myth.' The book engaged in inflammatory mockery of its presumptive 'custodial' opponents, for instance calling some 'fertility addicts' and 'the Fecundity-Trust' and calling Ernst Cassirer 'blinded by condescension,' and notable reviews were correspondingly harshly critical, though others were critical of technical missteps but nonetheless positive." NOTE about reasons to buy or not buy this copy: In terms of condition, the staining on the front cover, bottom fore edge of pages, and verso of the dust jacket are good reasons for someone who wants a nice copy to take a pass. In terms of price, you can buy a cheaper copy, but almost all of the available copies are more expensive, usually a lot more expensive. This copy is the first British edition, but not the first edition, so if you want the first edition, take a pass. On the other hand, if you believe that the "Giorgio" who inscribed this copy is the author, then this is only such copy available.

Seller Inventory # 17666

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Hamlet's Mill. An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time. SIGNED BY "GIORGIO"
• Publisher: London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1970.
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)