The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (Dictionary, Pen

A book of Symbols (and World Folklore and Mythology)
This is an amazing book — it covers symbolism, but it also a functions as a book of world folklore and mythology. It’s nearly 1,200 pages and the entries are quite extensive. For example, there are about nine pages on “stone,” five pages on “egg,” a full page on “dew.” But even more obscure items like “termite” gets four paragraphs, “comb” gets two, “porcupine” gets eight lines and “persimmon” gets six. This book takes a world perspective, showing what each symbol has meant to different cultures, religions and peoples — these often differ. I’ve rarely seen a book of this type that is able to tackle both a wide range, yet give them depth as well. For example the entry on “falcon,” one page, gives perspectives from Ancient Egypt, the Peruvian Incas, the Yunca Indians of Peru, the Irish, and various beliefs from the Middle Ages.There are some ancient gods and mythological and religious figures presented like Adam and Cain, and astrological signs, but thankfully these don’t take up most of the book — there are enough books on those topics already. The vast majority of this book covers _things_ like “chariot,” “dog,” “feather,” “oil,” “serpent,” “throne” and “wheel” — just to name a few. I own many books on folklore, superstition, folk belief and mythology, and I know a great book on these topics when I see one — and this is a great book and a browser’s dream.Some complain that images would have been helpful, and there aren’t many pictures here, but when you’re discussing something like “fox,” “crown” or “satire” — do you really need an image? I would prefer this book to have been a little larger, it is a rather small, fat book but regardless of the format the content is just beyond anything else I’ve seen.I would recommend “Dictionary of Symbols” as a companion volume to a book like “Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend.” While the “Standard Dictionary…” is a much longer book, it opts for more depth and perhaps a bit less range than this one. Of course their purposes are slightly different. There’s several dictionaries/encyclopedias of symbols out there, if you just want one, get this one.

Not Actual Symbols
I usually don’t write many reviews but I’m writing this to let whomever know that this book title and cover is kind of misleading. This is a book of meanings, rather than a book of symbols. Basically no actual illustrations or symbols are in this book. It is only meanings. It’s set up like an actual dictionary. I was thrown off by the images on the cover thinking that there would be visuals of actual symbols and that’s not the case. It’s still a very dense and informative book though, just don’t expect to see actual visual symbols… 99% of it is writing

Great information on symbols for students of the Tarot!
I was looking for a dictionary or an encyclopedia of symbols for the Tarot, and this book has exceeded my expectations. I looked at a number of symbol dictionaries for the Kindle, but I wanted something both comprehensive and affordable, and none of the available choices fit the bill. At 1150 pages, it’s definitely comprehensive. Furthermore, while this dictionary wasn’t specifically written with the Tarot in mind, it contains the information I’m looking for. All of the Major Arcana cards have their own entries (e.g. the Hanging [Hanged] Man), and the entries for the symbols and iconography found on the cards are relevant to the Tarot at the very least. The only complaint I have about the book (with tongue firmly in cheek 😉 ) is that I keep getting distracted from what I am trying to do by reading random entries. Highly recommended!!!!

had hoped for a lot more
I had high hopes for this book was disappointed pretty quickly. I got this book to use for literary symbols, but I guess I need to look further. This book seems more focused on myth and folklore.The depth of the entries seems random, and some words/concepts I expected to be covered are missing. For instance, ‘snow.’ Seriously? No entry on snow?? I can think of quite a few things snow can symbolize off the top of my head.The book seems a lot older than I thought, too. The translation from the French seems to have been done in 1982, but I have the feeling that the original book was much older than that.

Mi è piaciuto tutto la struttura e la facilità di consultazione

The given infirmation on each entry is sufficient and covers from different aspects. So, anyone would get a wide-ranging but detail idea of an entry. The entries are exhaustive too.The only issue I find that there is no supporting image for those entries. Especially in a dictionary of symbols, it is very essential for a complete idea of each entry.Still being an older edition with no such revisions, this dictionary is the exact one, I was looking for. Its comparatively far cheaper than its counterparts & serves my need fully.