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Powell's Q&A, Q&A | June 24, 2009

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  1. $17.50 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    Let the Great World Spin

    Colum McCann

Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature #45: The Story of 0: Prostitutes and Other Good-For-Nothings in the Renaissance

by Michele Jaffe

Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature #45: The Story of 0: Prostitutes and Other Good-For-Nothings in the Renaissance Cover

ISBN13: 9780674839519
ISBN10: 067483951x
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $7.95!

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

This work unfolds the idea of "nothing" out of a Titian painting of Danaë and the shower of gold. Jaffee's philological and pictorial argument links, across several languages, such seemingly disparate concepts as money, coins, mothers (through the mint's matrix), subjects, courtiers, prostitutes (through etymologies that join minting, standing-under, standing-for), ciphers, codes, and the codex form. This ambitious book is a cultural history of the "cipher" zero as code and as nothing, as the absence of value and the place-holder constructing value. It traces the wide-ranging implications of "nothing"--not only in mathematics but also in literature. Along the way, it makes important points about the orthography and editing of early modern texts, and about the material affinities of these texts with painting and minting.

Description:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-191) and index.
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About the Author

Michele Sharon Jaffeis also the author of a forthcoming novel, The Stargazer.
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Table of Contents

Preface

I.O.U.

Ground Zero

1. Counting

2.Counting Becomes Accounting

3. Code Inside the Codex

4. Petrarch

5. From Petrarch to Petrarchism

Conclusion: Nothing More

Appendix: Bellaso's Method 3

Bibliography

Index andGlossary

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780674839519
Subtitle:
Prostitutes and Other Good-For-Nothings in the Renaissance
Author:
Jaffe, Michele
Author:
Jaffe, Michele Sharon
Publisher:
Department of Comparative Literature
Location:
Cambridge, Mass. :
Subject:
Italy
Subject:
World
Subject:
Civilization, Modern
Subject:
Civilization
Subject:
Renaissance
Subject:
Symbolism of numbers
Subject:
Zero
Subject:
Italy Civilization 1268-1559.
Subject:
Renaissance -- Italy.
Edition Description:
Paperback
Series:
Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature
Series Volume:
964745
Publication Date:
September 1999
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
176
Dimensions:
9.23x6.17x.48 in. .81 lbs.
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