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Click dates below for info & tickets to
Mandy's live online Symbolorum events
Dec. 13 - Ministry of Scent
Dec. 14 - The Philosophical Research Society
Dec. 15 - The Institute for Art and Olfaction
Discover the esoteric insights and enchanting imagery of the Baroque emblem book, a long-lost cousin of the tarot.
The emblem book, which reached the peak of its popularity in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, presented mysterious allegorical images―rather like those we now find on tarot cards―alongside Latin mottoes. A learned text explained the connection between image and motto, and the lessons each emblem held for the reader’s life. Drawing on sources such as medieval bestiaries and Aesop’s fables, emblem books reflected an enchanted view of nature in which our human lives were intertwined with plants, animals, the moon and the stars.
World-renowned natural perfumer Mandy Aftel first encountered emblem books in the course of her researches into antique botanical illustrations, and quickly became entranced. Here she presents one hundred emblems from perhaps the finest emblem book, the Symbolorum et Emblematum of Camerarius, originally published in four parts between 1590 and 1604. Aftel has sensitively tinted in watercolor the bewitching circular engravings of the Symbolorum, in which giant hands reach from the sky; lions, bears, and unicorns gambol; and distant spires beckon. The mottoes and explanatory texts are given in translation from the original Latin, along with Aftel’s own commentary. An illustrated introduction illuminates the history and magic of emblem book.
Symbolorum will be a treasure for anyone who is drawn to uncover ancient wisdom and feel the breath of the universe.
Hardcover signed by Mandy Aftel. If you would like the book inscribed to a particular name, please specify that name in the comment field when ordering.
Available December 16, 2025,
or pre-order on Amazon [here].
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ADD TO CART STARTING DECEMBER 16, 2025
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