Articles on books of the MoneyMuseum.

Can you imagine the Emperor of China sending Jesuits to the Papal Court to ensure the Catholic mission of China? This happened in the years after 1708. However, the arguments of the Emperor of China were far too reasonable to convince a Pope.

What role does God play in the human conception of the world? Are the natural sciences enough to explain the world’s miracles? That is no new question but a very old one, and also the people of the 18th century were confronted with it. They sought their solution in alchemy.

It’s one of the world’s most performed operas: Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. An artist’s edition draws inspiration from insular illumination, illustrating the text with Celtic motifs.

You could find them everywhere under Christmas trees in Victorian England, even under the Queen’s: ‘gift books,’ published annually in November. On the history of an early book market phenomenon.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) fell victim to his modernity. Why do contemporary philosophers hardly ever talk about his works on political philosophy today? Not because his ideas aren’t good, but, on the contrary, because they are widely accepted! The matter was quite different in his lifetime though.