Table of Contents

Part One: The Origin of the Mirror Chapter 1: The Secret of Venice Chapter 2: The Royal Glass and Mirror and Glass Company Chapter 3: From Luxury to Necessity Part Two: The Magic of Resemblance Chapter 4: In the Semblance of God Chapter 5: The Triumph of Mimesis Chapter 6: Staring at the Self in Order to Imagine the Self Part Three: Troubling Strangeness Chapter 7: The Devil's Distorted Faces Chapter 8: Oblique Mirrors and Specular Trickery Chapter 9: Mirror Fragments Conclusion

About the Author

Sabine Melchior-Bonnet is an instructor at the College de France in Paris. This is her first work to be published in English.

Reviews

"An engagingly written work, well worth reading." -- Choice
"The Mirror is an amusing jewel of a book, a sparkling reflection of the history of the mirror in Europe, and the role of the mirror in European imagination." -- LosAngeles Times
"Presents such facts with erudite relish. The early chapters of The Mirror are a feast of technological information and curious details of European social history." -- The Wall Street Journal
"Sabine Melchior-Bonnet has taken the reflective piece of glass and turned it into a unique historical treatise on -- when you boil it down -- why human beings like to look at themselves and what that instinct means." -- ChicagoTribune
"Melchior-Bonnet's research-rigorous and vast-reveals much about our most carnal selves, our lust for control over our image, and our most lofty spiritual aspirations." -- The National Post