ancient city of Alexandria

The Quest for Alexandria:

During the 1890s, G. R. S. Mead (1863- 1933) set about translating works of Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, and early Christianity, revealing a rich, but hitherto almost unknown, metaphysical literature stemming from Alexandria. In these texts there could be discerned, Mead believed, a common metaphysical ground from which to promote the reconciliation of religions. Mead’s works sparked a minor revolution in art and letters. His Quest Society and Journal attracted many eminent intellectuals, including the mystic Evelyn Underhill, Rumi scholar Reynold Nicholson, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Martin Buber, Gustav Meyrink, and a circle of writers in London including Laurence Binyon, W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, and the composer Gustav Holst.