For the ancients, beginning with the Egyptians, the study of symbols was the high road to wisdom. In the Orient this understanding has remained active until this day, while in the West it underlies the art of the medieval era and, to a large degree, that of the Renaisance and Baroque, while modern theories of the unconscious have led to a renewed interest in the power of symbols. Cirlot, a poet and art critic, first published his remarkable Dictionary of Symbols in 1958; translated into English, the book established itself as an indispensable resource. Cirlot continued to revise and expand his pioneering work for the rest of his life. This, the first full edition of the dictionary to be published in English, also includes an article by Cirlot's daughter Victoria, describing the close connections of this endlessly fascinating and stimulating work to surrealism and to anthropology.