A review by boomt
The Art of Memory by Frances Yates

2.0

The invention of the memory palace or method of loci in antiquity is the reigning mnemonic device for so-called artificial memory. Medieval scholars elaborated upon it in the service of retaining theological precepts and scripture and later renaissance writers developed elaborate systems wrapped in the occultism of the time. As a cultural history of memory, Yates leaves no stone unturned and if you are really into this sort of thing, you will enjoy the book. Personally, I tired of the passionate inspection of what seemed to me minutiae.