Art and Literature: Studies in Relationship

A bulky volume of Saecula spiritalia devoted entirely to a selection of William Heckscher's writings published during the 45 years between 1937 and 1982. From the comprehensive bibliography of 93 items listed by the editor, 24 have been chosen (one in German, one in Dutch, two in Latin, the rest in English), each reproduced exactly as originally published, complete with footnotes and show more black-and-white illustrations, both of which are essential concomitants of the text in everything which Heckscher has written.
In 12 pages, the editor's Introduction summarizes the life and work and thought of this unique art-historian, who is not only one of the world's leading experts on some of the more recondite areas of his subject (iconology, emblem books), but also has the breadth of vision and inter-disciplinary perception associated with Renaissance Man.
It is astonishing that his observations concerning Shakespeare, Goethe, the brothers Grimm, et al do not strike the reader as the fruits of what is commonly regarded as academic research. Rather they remind one of the apparently haphazard thunderbolts of Zeus. This is because they are eruptions (Heckscher modestly calls them petites perceptions) from a mind that is deeply conversant not only with Western art but with almost every aspect of our culture from Greek antiquity right through to our own times. He does not expound but rather explores this or that relationship between art and literature. It is as though he cuts a crosssection of his brain and lets us see the ways in which his mind is working. Thus his readers, whilst learning from his rich store of knowledge and ideas, find themselves impelled also to think for themselves. show less