The Abyss

Synopsis

Complete dustjacket description (1976 FSG hardcover edition): Marguerite Yourcenar's novel of sixteenth century Europe is, like Memoirs of Hadrian, essentially a meditation on the nature and condition of man. But unlike the Hadrian it is direct narrative, and is somber, even bitter in tone, portraying the struggle of a free mind in highly troubled times. The principal character, Zeno, typical of the leading intellectuals of his day in the wide range of his studies and activities, is botanist and physician, alchemist, engineer, metallurgist, and philosopher.