“I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa.” (Shelley 7).
Cornelius Agrippa was a German mystic and alchemist, who lived from 1486-1535. He published a number of works, most of them incorporating such practices into his method of “science” as Kabbalah, alchemy, and astrology. He made attacks on more modern and practical forms of science in his work Of the Uncertainty and Vanity of the Sciences. (http://www.katinkahesselink.net/his/agrippa.html) In the novel, Victor Frankenstein worships Agrippa and his works, although he is encouraged to study more contemporary sciences—Agrippa’s works begin to get him interested in creating life, such as his monster.
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/mandrakes/images/agrippa.jpg)
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