Stapelia Mixta

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Author: Butler, ErikThe original 1824 German publication of 'Stapelia Mixta' united a bevy of eccentric proposals, meditations and displays of consciously excessive learning that s trove for an unusual clarity of absurdity, which was the hallmark of the pseudonymous author Dr. Mises. The 16 essays of this collection include discussions of dancing, drugs, immortality, perception and psychology. Aiming for a broader reading audience, the book was titled after a flower, but one of such a stench as to guarantee originality. And such was the originality of these semiserious flights of excess that came under the cover of Dr. Mises, who wrote on everything from landscaping to the spiritual lives of plants and heavenly bodies while also conducting pioneering research in optics and experimental psychology. These increasingly inventive essays start with a relatively digestible 'Encomium of the Belly' before developing into a complicated, prepataphysical exploration of Spatial Symbolism.Dr. Mises was the pen name of the founder of psychophysics, Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801–87), an alter ego he adopted for his more speculative and satirical writing. Erik Butler is a researcher at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.ISBN 9781962728010. Wakefield Press. pb. 152 pages. 11 b/w ills. 20.3 x 13.3 cm.available Show more