The Shape of the Heart
A Contribution to the Iconology of the Heart
"Since the days of the ancient Greeks, anatomists have correctly reported that the heart is shaped like a pine cone or has the outline of an upturned pyramid. Why is the shape of such a popular icon so at variance with the heart's true form?" "It seems that the indentation or fold in the base of the heart first appeared in Northern Italy in the early years of the fourteenth century. It was the result of an error originally made in an anatomical text by Aristotle. In the sixteenth century, anatomists finally corrected the error, but, by that time, the scalloped heart icon had become so established in the visual arts that it could no longer be changed." "This work also contains a section devoted to a cave, shaped like the interior of the heart, in an allegorical print by Jan Saenredam (1604). The representation was a creation of Hendrik Spiegel (1549-1612), one of the fathers of Dutch grammar and a friend of Cornelis Cornelisz, Hendrik Goltzius and Karel van Mander."--Jacket.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
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What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Nonfiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.
These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Balanced tone · Steady pace
Works well for a focused weekend or a few concentrated sittings.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.
This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.
Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.
This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.
A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-4448-2987-0
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL10260920M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
Works well for a focused weekend or a few concentrated sittings.
Begin with its place in Nonfiction, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- Whose perspective organizes the story, and whose perspective remains outside it?
- Which sources or lived experiences carry the author’s central argument?
- How does the book change the way you understand its larger subject?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.
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Why it fits: shares Nonfiction, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.