Meanings of Magic

Amy Wygant (1953-2012) lectured in early modern literature and culture at the University of Glasgow. She was a co-founder of Women in French in Scotland (WIFIS), and editor of Seventeenth-Century French Studies. Her publications include Towards a Cultural Philology: Phædre and the Construction of "Racine" (Oxford: European Humanities Research Centre, 1999) and Medea, Magic, and Modernity, and she is editing a special edition of the Forum for Modern Language Studies (2007). She also authored numerous articles on witchcraft and demonology, tragedy, opera, and psychoanalysis.

• AcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsIntroduction: Magic, Glamour, CursesAmy WygantPART I: MAGIC AND GODChapter 1. Magic and the MillenniumDavid S. KatzChapter 2. Showman or Shaman? The Acts of a Biblical ProphetMark BrummittChapter 3. Curse Tablets and Binding Spells in the Greco-Roman WorldJohn G. GagerChapter 4. Magic, Healing and Early Christianity: Consumption and CompetitionJustin MeggittPART II: MAGIC, CULTURE, SCIENCEChapter 5. All the Devils: Port-Royal and Pedagogy in Seventeenth-Century FranceNicholas HammondChapter 6. The Magic of French Culture: Transforming "Savages" into French Catholics in Seventeenth-Century FranceSara E. MelzerChapter 7. A Magus of the North? Professor John Ferguson and his LibraryDavid WestonChapter 8. The Golden Fleece and Harry PotterAmy WygantChapter 9. Cowboys and Magicians: Buffalo Bill, Houdini and Real MagicRonald G. WaltersChapter 10. The Search for a New Dimension: Surrealism and MagicAlyce MahonNotes on ContributorsIndex

"While there is not clear theme that binds such a divers range of essays together, the book's diversity is in fact one of its pleasures. It will lead students and scholars into areas they might not be familiar with or in which they previously had not interest."  ·  MLR