Poisons et philtres d'amour

12.5 x 18.5 cm / 352 pages / April 2021

isbn : 978-2-35137-306-4

Editors: François Pernot and Eric Vial

In French only

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Inspired by powerful iconography (The Death of Socrates by David, Medea by Sandys...), this other journey with plants, through time (from Antiquity to the present day) and disciplines (from botany to history, via literature, medicine and criminology), plays on contrasts: reality and representations, fantasies and practices, poisoners and victims... Poison, which is omnipresent in nature, is in fact the opposite of the remedy - or even the antidote?

Poisons and love potions, if possible plant-based, but it was not forbidden to depart from this starting point, are considered from every possible angle, realities and representations, poisoners and victims, fantasies and practices, and the cases studied and presented, on every scale, are part of the widest possible chronological arc, Poison dates back to ancient times, as Alexandre Vialatte put it, and the recent use of toxic substances by various secret services is a reminder that they are still relevant today, as are magic or energising potions, which are very old but whose continuity is confirmed by certain spam messages or marabout advertisements.