Mirror of the Marvelous: The Classic Surrealist Work on Myth

Excerpts & Samples

By Pierre Mabille

Publisher : Inner Traditions/Bear & Company

ABOUT Pierre Mabille

Pierre Mabille
Pierre Mabille (1904-1952) was a doctor, writer, and editorial director of the famous art review Minotaure. His major works include La Construction de l'Homme, Therese de Lisieux, Egregores ou la vie des civilisations, and Conscience Pictoral, Conscience Lumineuese.

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Description

The first English translation of one of the most significant works of the surrealist movement that looks at the great mythic themes as they appear in both classic and modern literature.


• Long considered one of the most significant and original books to have come out of the surrealist movement


• Cites ancient epics, modern poems, creation myths, and contemporary visions of the apocalypse in an active attempt to define the creative flame of the marvelous 


The Mirror of the Marvelous has long been considered one of the most significant and original books to have come out of the surrealist movement. Anais Nin suggested it as a source of inspiration, far ahead of its time, for would-be authors seeking to break from the realist literary mold. Mabille cites a far reaching assortment of texts, ranging from the classic to the obscure, from the ancient epic to the modern poem, from the creation myth to more contemporary visions of apocalypse. This work defines the flame of the marvelous by showing its presence in those works where it burns the brightest. 

"Pierre Mabille's Mirror of the Marvelous reflects on the strangely beautiful and often terrifying domains of visionary reality as expressed in world literature. His collection of classically unusual tales and sympathetic insightful interpretations provides the reader with an oasis for the Divine Imagination. Mabille's association with the Surrealists helped link their aesthetic with the great tradition of Western occult symbolism. I am thrilled that Inner Traditions has brought Mirror of the Marvelous to the English-speaking world at last."

Alex Grey, artist and author of Sacred Mirrors



"To leaveThe Mirror of the Marvelous unread would be to renounce, once and for all, any hope of comprehending the surrealist spirit."

Andre Breton, author of Manifesto of Surrealism