Art of Worldly Wisdom a Collection of Ap. This item is unavailable.Art of Worldly Wisdom a Collection of Ap

An international book of knowledge has it that Baltasar Gracian appeared "towards the end of the 16th century." At eighteen Gracian became a member of the Society of Jesus and from that time on he became what we might call today a university man. The humanities, scripture, theology and philosophy are mentioned as the subjects of his teaching.

Of the complete works of Gracian that have come down to us, the Oraculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia is the collection of 300 paragraphs excerpted from all his known works and here published in translation. Issued very late in his life, they represent the very heart of the man and of his philosophy.

The Oraculo has been translated so often and into so many different languages that its reissue in English may seem to demand an apology. All the translations (with the exception of Schopenhauer's into German) are so far removed from the Spanish original as to be almost unrecognisable. Almost every translation of Gracian is a translation from another translation one German text is a translation from the Italian, itself translated from a French text which, corrupted in the extreme, derives from the Spanish! This translation is from direct the original and is a straightforward attempt to express in English the thoughts of the Oraculo.

An original and authoritative translation of one of Spain's greatest thinkers. Produced in a sturdy quarter binding this book is very good value for money.