© Columbia University Press
Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupecissa in the Late Middle Ages
February, 2009
Cloth, 272 pages, 4 illus.
ISBN: 978-0-231-14538-1
$50.00
/ £34.50
"DeVun’s book is well-constructed, thoroughly documented, instructive, and very useful." — Chara Crisciani, American Historical Review
"[H]ighly readable text, amply supported by some fifty pages of endnotes, a bibliography, and a usefully compiled index, Leah DeVun has produced an original and valuable book." — Stanton J. Linden, SpeculumWashington State University
"[Devun's] book is a valuable addition to recent scholarship on late medieval "ousiders," following in the footsteps of Robert E. Lerner and Bernard McGinn." — David E. Timmer, Journal of Church HistoryCentral College
"In 163 pages of highly readable text...Leah DeVun has produced an original and valueable book that illuminates the activities and writings of the Franciscan Friar John of Rupecissa" — Speculuma Journal of Medieval Studies
"Leah DeVun's study is original in conception, thoroughly researched, and written with distinction. Most important, it is fully persuasive concerning the ideological link between prophecy and alchemy in the agenda of its fascinating protagonist, John of Rupescissa. Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time will be of interest to students of both apocalypticism and medieval scientific thought." — Robert Lerner, Northwestern University
"Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time is a splendid book. In vivid, accessible prose, Leah DeVun brings to life the mental and spiritual worlds of a fourteenth-century seer and alchemist. DeVun is the first to examine John of Rupescissa as a whole person, placing his alchemical writings squarely in an apocalyptic context. Deftly crossing a number of disciplinary boundaries, she masterfully demonstrates that our modern distinction between 'science' and 'religion' is meaningless when applied to Rupescissa's fourteenth-century context. A genuine pleasure to read, this book will appeal to scholars in a number of fields and will provide the general reader with a compelling introduction to the effort made by medieval authors to use human reason in approaching the secrets of God." — Laura Ackerman Smoller, University of Arkansas at Little Rock