SOURCE: "The Early Works," in Giordano Bruno: His Life, Thought, and Martyrdom, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, & Co., Ltd., 1914, pp. 66-80.

In this excerpt, Boulting analyzes several of Bruno's early works, including philosophical writings and the comedy, Il Candelaio, commenting on the relevance of these works in the early twentieth century.

Swinburne reveals his thoughts on Bruno in a poem:

GIORDANO BRUNO.
JUNE 9TH, 1889.

Algernon Charles Swinburne in The Athenaeum, June 15, 1889.

I. The Shadows Of Ideas

In 1582, Gorbin, whose shop was under the sign of "Hope," produced the second of Bruno's printed works, but the first which has been preserved down to our own time. "De Umbris Idearum"—"The Shadows of Ideas"—was dedicated to Henry and issued "with his privilege." Now Chicus Æsculanus asserted in his commentary "In Spheram" that Solomon wrote a work on the shadows of ideas, and perhaps this statement suggested the title to Bruno...