Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination: Seventeenth-Century Literature, Science, and Religion in...

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Kristen Poole (Ned B. Allen Professor of English Literature, English Department, Ned B. Allen Professor of English Literature, English Department, University of Delaware)

Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination

Seventeenth-Century Literature, Science, and Religion in His Dark Materials and The Book of...

Kristen Poole (Ned B. Allen Professor of English Literature, English Department, Ned B. Allen Professor of English Literature, English Department, University of Delaware)

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English

Oxford University Press
03 July 2025

Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination takes the general reader on a fascinating tour of seventeenth-century thought, exploring how this time period shaped Pullman's extraordinary trilogies His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust. In Part One, readers are taken into the mysteries of Renaissance allegory and hieroglyphics, tracing how the alethiometer and Lyra's way of reading the device emerged from these traditions. Part Two enters the exciting and revolutionary world of seventeenth-century science. We see how the amber spyglass imitates Galileo's telescope, how early modern fantasies of space travel led to ideas of multiple worlds, how alchemy entered Lyra's later adventures in Oxford and Prague, and how the concept of Dust shares in the physics and philosophies of early scientists like Margaret Cavendish. Part Three invites readers into the thrilling epic poem Paradise Lost--John Milton's dramatic account of the creation of the world following a violent war in Heaven--that was Pullman's inspiration for His Dark Materials. Pullman's vibrant re-telling of this core story brings us rebel angels, recasts Satan as a brooding Lord Asriel, and presents Lyra as the new Eve.

Written by an eminent scholar of seventeenth-century literature and history, Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination is crafted in an engaging and accessible style aimed at popular readers and fans of Pullman's work. It enlivens a historical period that has long attracted Pullman himself, bringing to life intriguing figures and the richly complex ideas of the time. This book is an exploration of history through the worlds and characters Pullman has invented. Ultimately, it not only reveals how seventeenth-century history helps readers better understand Pullman's novels, but shows how reading history through the lens of Pullman's imagination offers new ways of thinking about the past.

By: Kristen Poole (Ned B. Allen Professor of English Literature English Department Ned B. Allen Professor of English Literature English Department University of Delaware)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 20mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 235mm
Weight: 569g
ISBN: 9780192889317
ISBN 10: 0192889311
Pages: 290
Publication Date: 03 July 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction: All This History Around You PART 1. LANGUAGE AND MEANING A Short Introduction: What Is Truth? 1: The Alethiometer I: Allegory and Interpretation 2: The Alethiometer II: Literalism and Universal Language 3: The Language of Pictures: Dæmons and Hieroglyphs PART 2. SCIENCE A Short Introduction: Experiment and the New Science 4: Spyglasses and Other Worlds 5: The Secrets of Alchemy 6: Margaret Cavendish and the Physics of Dust: The Deepest Nature of Things PART 3. Religion A Short Introduction: Pullman and Religion 7: Angels and the War in Heaven 8: Rebelling against Authority: Satan and Asriel 9: Back to the Garden: Eve and Lyra

Kristen Poole is the Ned B. Allen Professor of English at the University of Delaware. She has published extensively on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature, religion, and science, with particular focus on Shakespeare and Milton. She also has a keen interest in global history, and is the General Editor of the online platform Routledge Resources Online: The Renaissance World. In addition to holding an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Harvard University, she has a Master of Sacred Theology degree from United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, and has published a book on ethics and climate change. She lives in Philadelphia.

Reviews for Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination: Seventeenth-Century Literature, Science, and Religion in His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust

It's both flattering and disconcerting to find myself talking about this book, not least because Professor Poole knows far more about Milton and the intellectual world of the seventeenth century than I ever did…I'm grateful for the chance to recommend it warmly. * Philip Pullman, September 2025 *