The experimental fire : inventing English alchemy, 1300-1700 / Jennifer M. Rampling.

  • Rampling, Jennifer M.
Date:
2023
  • Books

About this work

Description

"In medieval and early modern Europe, the practice of alchemy promised extraordinary physical transformations. Who would not be amazed to see base metals turned into silver and gold, hard iron into soft water, and deadly poison into elixirs that could heal the human body? To defend such claims, alchemists turned to the past, scouring ancient books for evidence of a lost alchemical heritage and seeking to translate their secret language and obscure imagery into replicable, practical effects. Tracing the development of alchemy in England over four hundred years, from the beginning of the fourteenth century to the end of the seventeenth, Jennifer M. Rampling illuminates the role of alchemical reading and experimental practice in the broader context of national and scientific history. Using untapped manuscript sources, she shows how practitioners devised new practical approaches to alchemy while seeking the support of English monarchs. By reconstructing their alchemical ideas, practices, and disputes, Rampling reveals how English alchemy was continually reinvented over the space of four centuries, resulting in changes to the science itself."--From publisher.

Publication/Creation

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2023.

Physical description

xvii, 408 pages : black and white illustrations ; 23 cm.

Edition

Paperback edition.

Notes

Published in hardcover: 2020.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction: What is mercury? -- Part I: The medieval origins of English alchemy ; Philosophers and kings ; Medicine and transmutation ; Opinion and experience -- Part II: The golden age of English alchemy ; Dissolution and reformation ; Nature and magic ; Time and money -- Part III: The legacy of medieval alchemy in early modern England ; Recovery and revision ; Home and abroad ; Antiquity and experiment.

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    History of Medicine
    AHA.41.AA3-6
    Open shelves

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Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9780226826547
  • 0226826546