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Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine in Harry Potter’s World : Education Other Resources

Exhibition Program

Education: Other Resources

CURATOR’S BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Ball, Philip. The Devil’s Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.
  • Daston, Lorraine, and Katharine Park. Wonders and the Order of Nature, 1150–1750. New York: Zone Books, 1998.
  • Flamel, Nicolas, John Frederick Houpreght, Trevirensis Bernardus, William Cooper, Ramon Llull, and George Ripley. Aurifontina chymica, or, A collection of fourteen small treatises concerning the first matter of philosophers. London: William Cooper, 1680.
  • Grafton, Anthony. Cardano’s Cosmos: The Worlds and Works of a Renaissance Astrologer. Coisedge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.
  • Jacobi, Jolande, ed. Paracelsus: Selected Writings. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.
  • Lehrich, Christopher. The Occult Mind: Magic in Theory and Practice. New York: Cornell University Press, 2007.
  • Newman, William R. Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
  • Paré, Ambroise. On Monsters and Marvels. Translated by Janis L. Pallister. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
  • Smith, Pamela H., and Paula Findlen, eds. Merchants and Marvels: Commerce, Science, and Art in Early Modern Europe. New York: Routledge, 2002.
  • Agrippa Von Nettesheim, Heinrich Cornelius. Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Translated by James Freake. Edited by Donald Tyson. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993.

SUGGESTED READING

  • Anatol, Giselle Liza, ed. Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003.
  • Behr, Kate. “‘Same-as-Difference’: Narrative Transformations and Intersecting Cultures in Harry Potter.” JNT: Journal of Narrative Theory 35.1 (Winter 2005): 112─132.
  • Billone, Amy. “‘The Boy Who Lived’: From Carroll’s Alice and Barrie’s Peter Pan to Rowling’s Harry Potter.” Children’s Literature 32 (2004): 178─202.
  • Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 3rd ed. Canada: New World Library, 2008.
  • Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. London: Macmillan, 1865.
  • Chevalier, Noel. “The Liberty Tree and the Whomping Willow: Political Justice, Magical Science, and Harry Potter.” The Lion and the Unicorn 29 (2005): 397─415.
  • Colbert, David. The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts. New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 2004.
  • Granger, John. Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader. Allentown, PA: Zossima Press, 2007.
  • Gupta, Suman. Re-reading Harry Potter. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
  • Heilman, Elizabeth E., ed. Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2009.
  • Hughes, Thomas. Tom Brown’s Schooldays. London: Macmillan, 1857.
  • Kronzek, Allan Zola, and Elizabeth Kronzek. The Sorcerer’s Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter. 2nd ed. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
  • Lackey, Mercedes., ed. Mapping the World of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, 2005.
  • Le Guin, Ursula K. A Wizard of Earthsea. New York: Parnassus Press, 1968.
  • Pennington, John. “From Elfland to Hogwarts, or the Aesthetic Trouble with Harry Potter.” The Lion and the Unicorn 26 (2002): 78─97.
  • Pugh, Tison and David L. Wallace. “Heteronormative Heroism and Queering the School Story in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.” Children’s Literature Association 31, no. 3 (Fall 2006): 260─281.
  • Pugh, Tison, and David L. Wallace. “A Postscript to Heteronormative Heroism and Queering the School Story in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.” Children’s Literature Association 33, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 188─192.
  • Pullman, Phillip. His Dark Materials. 3 vols. New York: Scholastic, 1995–2000.
  • Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter. 7 vols. New York: Scholastic, 1998–2008.
  • Rowling, J.K., John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two. Special Rehearsal ed. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2016.
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. 3 vols. United Kingdom: George, Allen, and Unwin, 1954–55.
  • Trevarthen, Geo Athena. The Seeker’s Guide to Harry Potter. New Alresford, UK: O Books, 2008.
  • Whited, Lana A., ed. The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2002.

ONLINE RESOURCES

  • Balch, Peggy. “Historical Medical Figures.” Reynolds-Finley Historical Library. http://www.uab.edu/reynolds/exhibits/histfigs
    As part of the historical collections at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, this exhibit offers a biographical sketch of important medical figures in history, including Paracelsus, Ambroise Pare, Thomas Sydenham, and Andreas Vesalius from the Renaissance.
  • Bambach, Carmen. “Anatomy in the Renaissance.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2002. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/anat/hd_anat.htm
    Scholar Carmen Bambach gives an overview of the Italian Renaissance artists who pioneered depicting anatomical illustrations based on dissections of the body. The site offers essays, chronological timelines, key words, and information about the artists, including Johannes de Ketham and his medieval anatomical figure, the “Zodiac Man.”
  • Bernard Becker Medical Library. The Robert E. Schlueter — Paracelsus Collection. Washington University School of Medicine. http://beckerexhibits.wustl.edu/rare/collections/schlueter.html
    The Archives and Rare Book Division of Washington University School of Medicine Library (St. Louis) contains the original writings of Paracelsus and includes a range of medical works from the 16th-century assembled by the St. Louis surgeon Robert E. Schlueter (1872–1955).
  • Debus, Allen G. Paracelsus And The Medical Revolution Of The Renaissance. National Library of Medicine. First published April 27, 1998. http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9414554
    This National Library of Medicine exhibition highlights the contributions of the Renaissance figure Paracelsus, to science, medicine, chemistry, and pharmacy in the 16th century.
  • Nauert, Charles, and Edward N. Zalta, ed. “Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Summer 2011 Edition. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2011/entries/agrippa-nettesheim/
    The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a scholarly encyclopedic entry on Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, including an extensive biography and analysis of his texts.
  • “The Harry Potter Lexicon.” 2000–2016. https://www.hp-lexicon.org/
    This fan site provides a reference to the world of Harry Potter and includes an encyclopedia style search for characters, locations, magic, events, things, and creatures within the novels. In addition, this exhaustive site offers essays and articles related to the Harry Potter canon.
  • Wellesley, Mary. “Snakes, Mandrakes and Centaurs: Medieval Herbal Now Online.” The British Library, September 16, 2016. http://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2016/09/snakes-mandrakes-and-centaurs.html
    The British Library offers an illustrated collection of medical texts from its digitized manuscript Sloane MS 1975. View the featured images relating to animals, and view the full text online.
Last Updated: 14 December 2023