The Encircled Serpent: A Study of Serpent Symbolism in All Countries and Ages

The original 1926 edition, meticulously preserved. This edition moves beyond the sterile, mass-market reproductions often found today to bring you a premium Collector’s Facsimile. Every page maintains the historical pagination and aesthetic of the source text, paired with a bespoke cover design unique to this imprint.

M. Oldfield Howey’s The Encircled Serpent is a detailed and wide-ranging study of how the serpent has appeared in myths, religions, and art throughout history. Drawing on sources from ancient Egypt, Greece, India, and beyond, Howey examines how this single symbol could represent both wisdom and deceit, creation and destruction, healing and death. The book moves through cultures and eras to show how the serpent’s image connects distant belief systems, revealing a shared fascination with cycles, power, and transformation. By the end, the reader is left considering why this ancient creature continues to coil so persistently around the roots of human imagination.