Universal history as an historiographical genre can trace its origins back to the Greek historian Polybius (c. 200–c. 114 B.C.E.), who interpreted the rise of the Roman Republic as the predominant...

The distinctive concept of the symbol, articulated by such writers as Goethe, Schelling, and Coleridge, is of the utmost significance in the literary, philosophical, and even scientific thought of the Romantic period. This interdisciplinary historical study examines the development of the concept in a jargon-free style that will appeal to a broad range of readers.