Alchemy

Early Modern Alchemy: Heinrich Khunrath’s "Amphitheater of Eternal Knowledge"

2 Comments / Alchemy, Book history, Heinrich Khunrath, Hermeticism, John Dee, Sixteenth century, the Occult / By

“While these Discontents continued, severall Letters past between Queene Elizabeth and Doctor Dee, whereby perhaps he might promise to returne; At length it so fell out, that he left Trebona and took his Iourney for England. The ninth of Aprill he came to Breame… Here that famous Hermetique Philosopher, Dr Henricus Khunrath of Hamburgh came …

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Res Obscura Miscellany, Part One

2 Comments / Alchemy, Drugs, Hell, Res Obscura, Visual Culture / By

A medical alchemist, or ‘iatrochemist,’ examines a jar of urine in seventeenth-century Holland. Well, I try to avoid posting decontextualized grab-bags of images (one of the drawbacks of Tumblr and its ilk, in my opinion), but I’m on vacation and busy with research, so this week I’m going to take the easy route and do just …

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The Domestic Life of Alchemists

8 Comments / Alchemy, Domestic Life, Drugs, Res Obscura, the Occult, Visual Culture / By

Philadelphia’s Chemical Heritage Foundation maintains a wonderful Flickr page of images relating to the history of chemistry, pharmacy and alchemy. While perusing their image banks, I came across this collection of 17th and 18th-century paintings of alchemists practicing their occult art — paintings which include some revealing glimpses into the private life of those who …

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