Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1798-1870) was undoubtedly the greatest nineteenth-century American expert on the subjects of Hermeticism and alchemy. A career soldier (and eventually a military adviser to President Lincoln during the Civil War), he had a lifelong interest in philosophy, metaphysics, and esoterism, which resulted in the writing of several books on themes relation to the profound, universal levels of meaning to be found in religion, folklore, and the poetry of Dante and Shakespeare.

A century before C.G. Jung’s studies of alchemical symbolism, Hitchcock had concluded that the authors of the enigmatic Hermetic and alchemical writings were not speaking about the physical transmutation of base metals into gold, but about the transformation of the human spirit into a true reflection of its divine origin.

In Swedenborg: A Hermetic Philosopher, Hitchcock examines some of the core ideas of the eighteenth-century scientist, visionary, and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), and shows their remarkable similarity to Hermetic and alchemical concepts of an earlier period. He also suggests that the reader of Swedenborg’s voluminous works should look beyond their literal sense to a deeper meaning that is in accordance with Swedenborg’s own teachings about and internal, spiritual sense hidden beneath the letter of sacred scriptures.

One of the unique aspects of Swedenborg: a Hermetic Philosopher is Hitchcock’s comparative study of Swedenborg’s theology and the religious philosophy of Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677), in which he demonstrates the many parallels that exist in the metaphysical thought of these two writers.

For this new edition of Swedenborg: a Hermetic Philosopher, revisions have been made in punctuation and spelling to reflect current usage, and a valuable introductory essay by Dr. Andrei Vashestov on Hitchcock’s life and work has been added.