The Grammar of Angels

The Life of a Renaissance Prodigy and His Search for a Philosophy of Everything

Edward Wilson-Lee

The wonderous story of a Renaissance prodigy and polymath who strove to unlock the magical powers of language.

The Grammar of Angels is a riveting narrative that reveals the quest undertaken by the singular Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Pico dedicated his life to a quest to find the sublime; to reconcile all existing thought into a philosophy that would settle the most important questions about human existence. This philosophy would also provide tools by which man could transcend his mortal limitations and join the ranks of the angels.

At the heart of Pico's ideas were questions that he traced through the depth and breadth of human thought, from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to the medieval Arabs and Jews. He made use of everything at his disposal from Europe's broadening horizons and asked primal questions of himself and the world. Why is it that we can be astonished by beauty? That the hairs on the backs of our necks can be made to stand by intoxicating rhythms and harmonies? That we can be provoked to ecstatic experiences by the simple means of an incantation? In Catholic Italy, the implications of this line of thought were dangerous and provoked violent reactions, suggesting as they did that the notion of the individual might be just as much of an illusion as a flat earth or a geocentric universe. That there may well be notions of the divine other than the Christian God.

During a tempestuous life at the exquisite heart of the Italian Renaissance, Pico's life is a testament to intellectual daring, to a human dignity founded in the willingness to think the unthinkable. The Grammar of Angels invites us to peer over the edge of the abyss in search of the same answers as we immerse ourselves in an age of true wonders.

Edward Wilson-Lee is an author of books on the history of literature, libraries, and travel, including The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books. He lives in Cambridge, where he teaches literature at Sidney Sussex College, part of the University of Cambridge.

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Endorsements & Reviews

"A deeply fascinating, sui generis book by a brilliant scholar-writer, which uses the life story of a Renaissance prodigy to summon an angel-host of ideas, people and stories, all circling the question of language's ability to transcend the mortal realm." Robert Macfarlane, New York Times bestselling author 

"Wilson-Lee is good at carnivalesque historical colour. He skillfully conveys the propulsive, addictive thrill when interpretation is taken for revelation and pulls in analogies from times or cultures that even Pico was not familiar with, suggesting affinities in a kind of comparative sociology of incantation. In another work this might be more of a problem; in the shadow of an accretive, universalist intellect like Pico’s, however, it makes perfect sense for this impressive and scholarly book to see its subject everywhere it looks." The Guardian

"The life of Renaissance thinker Giovanni Pico della Mirandola quivers with intellectual fizz and sadomasochistic energy. A marvel. As a biography of Pico and an account of his thought, this is a first-class book. Such range and ambition is, after all, very Renaissance. It’s very Pico. It is also a joy to read." The Sunday Times (London)

'Wilson-Lee performs without fail the sympathetic, translucent ventriloquism that sets apart the most absorbing biographies. His prose, subtly then gleamingly witty, is deliberately unworldly: it bears all the marks of enraptured enthusiasm which he finds in his once-renowned subject. And—by the by—at one point Wilson-Lee also composes the most startling, ingenious, aesthetically joyous description of the new technology of printing that I have yet encountered." The Daily Telegraph 

Praise for Edward Wilson-Lee

“A captivating adventure. For lovers of history, Wilson-Lee offers a thrill on almost every page." The New York Times Book Review

“Read this transporting book. Take it to the beach, to the countryside wherever—and thank you Edward Wilson-Lee for writing it, and with such a sense of vital grace.”
Simon Schama

“Superb. An intriguing glimpse into the Renaissance mind and its rage for order, as well as a beguiling preview of the modern library and, very possibly, what lies beyond.” The Wall Street Journal