For some reason I always thought this book is much older. I also thought that it was about building symbolism. Obviously, I never got to read it until I found it in the catalogue of V Bros publishing.
“Fulcanelli (fl. 1920s) was the name used by a French alchemist and esoteric writer, whose identity is still debated”. Thus says Wikipedia. Indeed, the book is not about building symbolism, but about Alchemical symbolism in a number of cathedrals in Paris (mostly the Notre Dame), Amiens and Bourges.
The book makes me wonder about the renovated Notre Dame. The author refers to statues, bass reliefs, etc. that were already very worn in his day. Would the renovators after the fire have had access to drawings of what the images looked like originally and are they now better than when Fulcanelli wrote his book? Or are all images that are not understand or of which that were no photos or images simply left out?
Fulcanelli describes a lot of images from a variety of cathedrals and a few churches and explain the Alchemical symbolism as he saw it. This results in a interesting read about hidden symbolism and some good information about Alchemy and its operations. The book is not a manual or anything, but an interesting product of the interest in Alchemy of a century ago.
1922 / 2024 V Bros, isbn 2487364386
