For this new anthology, Anthony Bonner has chosen central texts from his
acclaimed two-volume compilation Selected Works of Ramon Llull
(Princeton, 1985). Available for the first time in an affordable format,
these works serve as an introduction to the life and writings of the
Catalan (properly, Majorcan) philosopher, mystic, and theologian who
lived from 1232 to 1316. Founder of a school of Arabic and other
languages, Llull was also a poet and novelist and one of the creators of
literary Catalan.
This volume contains three prefaces on Llull's life, thought, and
reputation. Of Llull's works, it offers Book of the Gentile and the
Three Wise Men, his seminal Christian apology; the Ars brevis, a
summary of his philosophical system; The Book of the Lover and the
Beloved, a celebration of mystical love in the courtly tradition; and
his wittily scathing Book of the Beasts.