Editing Alchemy (section)

== History ==
Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and genetic relationships. One can distinguish at least three major strands, which appear to be mostly independent, at least in their earlier stages: [[Chinese alchemy]], centered in China; [[Rasayana|Indian alchemy]], centered on the [[Indian subcontinent]]; and Western alchemy, which occurred around the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] and whose center shifted over the millennia from [[Egypt (Roman province)|Greco-Roman Egypt]] to the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]], and finally [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]]. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to [[Taoism]] and Indian alchemy with the [[Indian religions|Dharmic faiths]]. In contrast, Western alchemy developed its philosophical system mostly independent of but influenced by various [[Western religion]]s. It is still an open question whether these three strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other.

=== Hellenistic Egypt ===
{{Hermeticism}}
[[File:Zosimosapparat.jpg|thumb|Ambix, cucurbit and retort of [[Zosimos of Panopolis|Zosimos]], from [[Marcelin Berthelot]], ''Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs'' (3 vol., Paris, 1887–1888)]]

The start of Western alchemy may generally be traced to ancient and [[Hellenistic Egypt]], where the city of [[Alexandria]] was a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods.<ref>''New Scientist'', 24–31 December 1987</ref> Following the work of André-Jean Festugière, modern scholars see alchemical practice in the Roman Empire as originating from the Egyptian goldsmith's art, Greek philosophy and different religious traditions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Festugière |first=André-Jean |title=La révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, Vol.1 |publisher=Les Belles Lettres |year=2006 |location=Paris |pages=218–219}}</ref> Tracing the origins of the alchemical art in Egypt is complicated by the [[pseudepigraphic]] nature of texts from the Greek alchemical corpus. The treatises of [[Zosimos of Panopolis]], the earliest historically attested author ([[Floruit|fl.]] c. 300 AD),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martelli |first1=Matteo |title=L'alchimista antico |date=2019 |publisher=Editrice Bibliografica |isbn=978-88-7075-979-2 |pages=73–86}}</ref> can help in situating the other authors. Zosimus based his work on that of older alchemical authors, such as [[Mary the Jewess]],<ref>See {{cite book |last=Patai |first=Raphael |title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LorvA_5Ex_UC&pg=PA60 |year=1995 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-00642-0 |pages=60–91}}</ref> [[Pseudo-Democritus]],<ref name="Martelli, The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus">{{cite book |last1=Martelli |first1=Matteo |title=The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus |date=2014 |publisher=Maney |location=Leeds}}</ref> and [[Agathodaemon (alchemist)|Agathodaimon]], but very little is known about any of these authors. The most complete of their works, The ''Four Books'' of [[Pseudo-Democritus]], were probably written in the first century AD.<ref name="Martelli, The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus" />

Recent scholarship tends to emphasize the testimony of Zosimus, who traced the alchemical arts back to Egyptian metallurgical and ceremonial practices.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martelli |first1=Matteo |title=L'alchimista antico |date=2019 |publisher=Editrice Bibliografica |isbn=978-88-7075-979-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grimes |first=Shannon |url=https://rubedo.press/becoming-gold |title=Becoming Gold |publisher=Rubedo Press |year=2018 |location=Auckland|access-date=12 February 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203123/https://rubedo.press/becoming-gold|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dufault |first1=Olivier |title=Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity |date=2019 |publisher=California Classical Studies |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-1-939926-12-8 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203119/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |url-status=live}}</ref> It has also been argued that early alchemical writers borrowed the vocabulary of Greek philosophical schools but did not implement any of its doctrines in a systematic way.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dufault |first1=Olivier |s2cid=10823051 |title=Transmutation Theory in the Greek Alchemical Corpus |journal=Ambix |year=2015 |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=215–244 |doi=10.1179/1745823415Y.0000000003 |pmid=26307909 |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/download/hc:24472/CONTENT/dufault-transmutation-theory-in-the-greek-alchemical-corpus.pdf/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://hcommons.org/deposits/download/hc:24472/CONTENT/dufault-transmutation-theory-in-the-greek-alchemical-corpus.pdf/ |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Zosimos of Panopolis wrote in the ''Final Abstinence'' (also known as the "Final Count").<ref>The title of the τελευταὶα ἀποχή is traditionally translated as the "Final Count". Considering that the treatise does not mention any count nor counting and that it makes a case against the use of sacrifice in the practice of alchemy, a preferable translation would be "the Final Abstinence". See {{Cite book |last=Dufault |first=Olivier |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |title=Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation |publisher=California Classical Studies |year=2019 |location=Berkeley |pages=127–131 |isbn=978-1-939926-12-8|access-date=12 February 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203119/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x|url-status=live}}</ref> Zosimos explains that the ancient practice of "tinctures" (the technical Greek name for the alchemical arts) had been taken over by certain "demons" who taught the art only to those who offered them sacrifices. Since Zosimos also called the demons "the guardians of places" ({{lang|el|οἱ κατὰ τόπον ἔφοροι}}, {{transliteration|el|hoi katà tópon éphoroi}}) and those who offered them sacrifices "priests" ({{lang|el|ἱερέα}}, {{transliteration|el|hieréa}}), it is fairly clear that he was referring to the gods of Egypt and their priests. While critical of the kind of alchemy he associated with the Egyptian priests and their followers, Zosimos nonetheless saw the tradition's recent past as rooted in the rites of the Egyptian temples.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dufault |first=Olivier |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |title=Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation |publisher=California Classical Studies |year=2019 |location=Berkeley |pages=118–141 |isbn=978-1-939926-12-8|access-date=12 February 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203119/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Mythology ====
Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to [[Ancient Egypt|Pharaonic Egypt]] where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garfinkel |first=Harold |title=Ethnomethodological Studies of Work |publisher=Routledge &Kegan Paul |year=1986 |page=127 |isbn=978-0-415-11965-8}}</ref> Alchemical writers used Classical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemical transmutation.<ref>Yves Bonnefoy. 'Roman and European Mythologies'. University of Chicago Press, 1992. pp. 211–213</ref> These included the pantheon of gods related to the Classical planets, [[Isis]], [[Osiris]], [[Jason]], and many others.

The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is [[Hermes Trismegistus]] (or Thrice-Great Hermes). His name is derived from the [[deity|god]] [[Thoth]] and his Greek counterpart [[Hermes]].<ref>A survey of the literary and archaeological evidence for the background of Hermes Trismegistus in the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth may be found in Bull, Christian H. 2018. ''The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom''. Leiden: Brill, pp. 33–96.</ref> Hermes and his [[caduceus]] or serpent-staff, were among alchemy's principal symbols. According to [[Clement of Alexandria]], he wrote what were called the "forty-two books of Hermes", covering all fields of knowledge.<ref>[[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume II/CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA/The Stromata, or Miscellanies/Book VI/Chapter IV.|Clement, ''Stromata'', vi. 4.]]</ref> 

==== ''Hermetica'' and ''Emerald Tablet'' ====
{{Main|Hermetica|Emerald Tablet}}
The ''Hermetica'' are texts attributed to [[Hermes Trismegistus]]. Many of them have close historical connections with Western alchemical philosophy and practice (which was sometimes called the [[hermeticism|hermetic philosophy]] by its practitioners). By modern convention, the ''Hermetica'' is usually subdivided into two main categories, the "technical" and "religio-philosophical" ''Hermetica''. The "technical" ''Hermetica'' deals with alchemy, [[History of astrology|astrology]], medicine, [[History of pharmacy|pharmacology]], and [[Magic (supernatural)|magic]]. Its oldest parts were written in Greek and may go back as far as the second or third century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Copenhaver|1992|p=xxxiii}}; {{harvnb|Bull|2018|pp=2–3}}. Garth Fowden is somewhat more cautious, noting that our earliest testimonies date to the first century BC (see {{harvnb|Fowden|1986|p=3, note 11}}).</ref> 

Many of the texts in the "technical" ''Hermetica'' were later translated, [[Graeco-Arabic translation movement|first into Arabic]] and [[Latin translations of the 12th century|then into Latin]], often being extensively revised and expanded throughout the centuries. Some of them were also originally written in Arabic. In other cases their status as an original work or translation remains unclear.<ref>{{harvnb|Van Bladel|2009|p=17}}.</ref> These Arabic and Latin Hermetic texts were widely copied throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. The most famous of these texts is the ''Emerald Tablet'', also known as the ''Smaragdine Table'' or the ''Tabula Smaragdina'', a compact and cryptic text.<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013|pp=31–32}}.</ref> The earliest known versions of it are four [[Arabic]] recensions preserved in mystical and alchemical treatises between the 8th and 10th centuries AD—chiefly the ''[[Sirr al-khaliqa|Secret of Creation]]'' ({{langx|ar|سر الخليقة|Sirr al-Khalīqa|link=no}}) and the ''[[Secretum Secretorum|Secret of Secrets]]'' ({{langx|ar|سرّ الأسرار|Sirr al-Asrār|label=none}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Kraus|1943|pp=274–275}}; {{harvnb|Weisser|1980|p=46}}.</ref> From the 12th century onward, Latin translations—most notably the widespread so-called ''Vulgate''<ref>{{harvnb|Kahn|1994|p=|pp=XIX, 41}}; {{harvnb|Mandosio|2004|p=683}}; {{harvnb|Caiazzo|2004|pp=700–703}}; {{harvnb|Colinet|1995}}.</ref>—introduced the ''Emerald Tablet'' to Europe, where it attracted great scholarly interest. Medieval commentators such as [[Ortolanus|Hortulanus]] interpreted it as a "foundational text" of alchemical instructions for producing the [[philosopher's stone]] and [[Chrysopoeia|making gold]].<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Debus|2004|p=415}}; {{harvnb|Ruska|1926|pp=193, 209}}.</ref>

==== Technology ====
The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of [[metallurgy]], extending back to 3500&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|1996|p=12}}</ref> Many writings were lost when the [[Roman emperor]] [[Diocletian]] ordered the burning of alchemical books<ref>{{cite book |last=Partington |first=James Riddick |title=A Short History of Chemistry |url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofch0000part_q6h4|url-access=registration |year=1989 |page=[https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofch0000part_q6h4/page/20 20] |isbn=978-0-486-65977-0 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York}}</ref> after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria (AD&nbsp;292). Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived, most notable among them the [[Stockholm papyrus]] and the [[Leyden papyrus X]]. Dating from AD&nbsp;250 to 300, they contained recipes for dyeing and making artificial gemstones, cleaning and fabricating pearls, and manufacturing of imitation gold and silver.<ref>Caley, E. R. (1927) "The Stockholm Papyrus : An English Translation with brief notes" Journal of Chemical Education IV:8 : 979–1002.</ref> These writings lack the mystical, philosophical elements of alchemy, but do contain the works of [[Bolus of Mendes]] (or [[Pseudo-Democritus]]), which aligned these recipes with theoretical knowledge of astrology and the [[classical elements]].<ref name="Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent 1996, p13">''A History of Chemistry'', Bensaude-Vincent, Isabelle Stengers, ''Harvard University Press'', 1996, '''p13'''</ref> Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos, the change took place that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermetic art.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|1996|p=14}}</ref>

==== Philosophy ====
Alexandria acted as a melting pot for philosophies of [[Pythagoreanism]], [[Platonism]], [[Stoicism]] and [[Gnosticism]] which formed the origin of alchemy's character.<ref name="Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent 1996, p13" /> An important example of alchemy's roots in Greek philosophy, originated by [[Empedocles]] and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: [[Earth (classical element)|earth]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Water (classical element)|water]], and [[Fire (classical element)|fire]]. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lindsay, Jack |title=The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt |location=London |publisher=Muller |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-389-01006-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/16 16] |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/16}}</ref> The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are; "True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form."<ref>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=66 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref> Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.

Alchemy coexisted alongside emerging [[Christianity]]. [[Lactantius]] believed Hermes Trismegistus had prophesied its birth. [[Augustine of Hippo|St&nbsp;Augustine]] later affirmed this in the 4th and 5th centuries, but also condemned Trismegistus for idolatry.<ref>Fanning, Philip Ashley. ''Isaac Newton and the Transmutation of Alchemy: An Alternative View of the Scientific Revolution.'' 2009. p.6</ref> Examples of Pagan, Christian, and Jewish alchemists can be found during this period.

Most of the Greco-Roman alchemists preceding Zosimos are known only by pseudonyms, such as [[Moses of Alexandria|Moses]], Isis, [[Cleopatra the Alchemist|Cleopatra]], [[Pseudo-Democritus|Democritus]], and [[Ostanes]]. Others authors such as Komarios, and [[Chymes]], we only know through fragments of text. After AD&nbsp;400, Greek alchemical writers occupied themselves solely in commenting on the works of these predecessors.<ref>F. Sherwood Taylor. ''Alchemists, Founders of Modern Chemistry.'' p.26.</ref> By the middle of the 7th century alchemy was almost an entirely mystical discipline.<ref>[[Allen G. Debus]]. ''Alchemy and early modern chemistry: papers from Ambix.'' p. 36</ref> It was at that time that [[Khalid Ibn Yazid]] sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Islamic world, facilitating the translation and preservation of Greek alchemical texts in the 8th and 9th centuries.<ref>Glen Warren Bowersock, Peter Robert Lamont Brown, Oleg Grabar. ''Late antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world.'' pp. 284–285</ref>

=== Byzantium ===
Greek alchemy was preserved in medieval [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] manuscripts after the fall of [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]], and yet historians have only relatively recently begun to pay attention to the study and development of Greek alchemy in the Byzantine period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roberts |first1=Alexandre M. |title=Framing a Middle Byzantine Alchemical Codex |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |date=2019 |volume=73 |pages=69–70 |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:31587/ |access-date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118131404/https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:31587/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== India ===
{{Main|Rasayana}}
{{See also|History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent}}
The 2nd millennium BC text [[Vedas]] describe a connection between eternal life and gold.<ref name=eb /> A considerable knowledge of metallurgy has been exhibited in a third-century AD<ref>{{cite book |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |contribution=Introduction |date=31 January 2013|title=King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India |pages=1–60 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199891825.003.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-989182-5}}</ref> text called [[Arthashastra]] which provides ingredients of explosives (Agniyoga) and salts extracted from fertile soils and plant remains (Yavakshara) such as saltpetre/[[Niter|nitre]], perfume making (different qualities of perfumes are mentioned), granulated (refined) Sugar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arthasastra_English_Translation : R Shamasastry: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming |url=https://archive.org/details/Arthasastra_English_Translation|access-date=11 July 2020 |website=Internet Archive |page=171 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Partington |first=J. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNZBSqd2cToC&q=sanskrit+word+for+saltpetre&pg=PA214 |title=A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder |date=1999 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-5954-0 |pages=209–211 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kauṭalya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFJz72h5qjUC&q=arthashastra+perfume&pg=PA43 |title=The Arthashastra |date=1992 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-044603-6 |page=43 |language=en}}</ref> [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] texts from the 2nd to 5th centuries mention the transmutation of base metals to gold. According to some scholars Greek alchemy may have influenced Indian alchemy but there are no hard evidences to back this claim.<ref name=eb>[[Robert P. Multhauf|Multhauf, Robert P.]] & Gilbert, Robert Andrew (2008). ''Alchemy''. Encyclopædia Britannica (2008).</ref>

The 11th-century [[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Persian chemist]] and [[Medicine in medieval Islam|physician]] [[Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī]], who visited Gujarat as part of the court of [[Mahmud of Ghazni]], reported that they
{{blockquote|have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them, which in [[Sanskrit]] is called [[Rasayana|Rasāyana]] and in Persian [[Rasavātam]]. It means the art of obtaining/manipulating ''Rasa'': nectar, mercury, and juice. This art was restricted to certain operations, metals, drugs, compounds, and medicines, many of which have mercury as their core element. Its principles restored the health of those who were ill beyond hope and gave back youth to fading old age.}}
The goals of alchemy in India included the creation of a divine body (Sanskrit ''divya-deham'') and immortality while still embodied (Sanskrit ''jīvan-mukti''). Sanskrit alchemical texts include much material on the manipulation of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized with the semen of the god Śiva and the menstrual blood of the goddess Devī.

Some early alchemical writings seem to have their origins in the [[Kaula (Hinduism)|Kaula]] tantric schools associated to the teachings of the personality of [[Matsyendranath]]. Other early writings are found in the Jaina medical treatise ''Kalyāṇakārakam'' of Ugrāditya, written in South India in the early 9th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meulenbeld |first1=G. Jan |author-link1=Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld |title=History of Indian Medical Literature |date=1999–2002 |publisher=Egbert Forsten |location=Groningen |pages=IIA, 151–155 |ref=HIML}}</ref>

Two famous early Indian alchemical authors were [[Nagarjuna (metallurgist)|Nāgārjuna Siddha]] and Nityanātha Siddha. Nāgārjuna Siddha was a Buddhist monk. His book, ''Rasendramangalam'', is an example of Indian alchemy and medicine. Nityanātha Siddha wrote ''Rasaratnākara'', also a highly influential work. In Sanskrit, ''rasa'' translates to "mercury", and Nāgārjuna Siddha was said to have developed a method of converting mercury into gold.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://univie.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk/Papers/152766/ |last=Wujastyk |first=Dominik |year=1984 |title=An Alchemical Ghost: The Rasaratnākara of Nāgarjuna |journal=Ambix |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=70–83 |doi=10.1179/amb.1984.31.2.70 |pmid=11615977 |access-date=28 December 2017 |archive-date=11 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511080759/https://www.academia.edu/221269/An_Alchemical_Ghost_The_Rasaratn%C4%81kara_by_N%C4%81g%C4%81rjuna |url-status=live}}</ref>

Scholarship on Indian alchemy is in the publication of ''The Alchemical Body'' by David Gordon White.<ref>See bibliographical details and links at https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3266066W/The_Alchemical_Body {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709172936/https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3266066W/The_Alchemical_Body |date=9 July 2023 }}</ref>

A modern bibliography on Indian alchemical studies has been written by White.<ref>{{Cite web |doi=10.1093/OBO/9780195399318-0046 |title=Rasāyana (Alchemy) |publisher=Oxford University Press |work=Oxford Bibliographies Online |year=2011 |last1=White |first1=David Gordon |url=http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0046.xml?rskey=skoSqW&result=1&q=rasayana#firstMatch|access-date = 15 August 2012|archive-date = 22 April 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200422082736/http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0046.xml?rskey=skoSqW&result=1&q=rasayana#firstMatch|url-status = live}}</ref>

The contents of 39 Sanskrit alchemical treatises have been analysed in detail in [[Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld|G. Jan Meulenbeld]]'s ''History of Indian Medical Literature''.<ref name="Egbert Forsten">{{cite book |last1=Meulenbeld |first1=G. Jan |author-link1=Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld |title=History of Indian Medical Literature |date=1999–2002 |publisher=Egbert Forsten |location=Groningen |pages=IIA, 581–738}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|To wit, the ''Ānandakanda, Āyurvedaprakāśa, Gorakṣasaṃhitā, Kākacaṇḍeśvarīmatatantra, Kākacaṇḍīśvarakalpatantra, Kūpīpakvarasanirmāṇavijñāna, Pāradasaṃhitā, Rasabhaiṣajyakalpanāvijñāna, Rasādhyāya, Rasahṛdayatantra, Rasajalanidhi, Rasakāmadhenu, Rasakaumudī, Rasamañjarī, Rasamitra, Rasāmṛta, Rasapaddhati, Rasapradīpa, Rasaprakāśasudhākara, Rasarājalakṣmī, Rasaratnadīpikā, Rasaratnākara, Rasaratnasamuccaya, Rasārṇava, Rasārṇavakalpa, Rasasaṃketakalikā, Rasasāra, Rasataraṅgiṇī, Rasāyanasāra, Rasayogasāgara, Rasayogaśataka, Rasendracintāmaṇi, Rasendracūḍāmaṇi, Rasendramaṅgala, Rasendrapurāṇa, Rasendrasambhava, Rasendrasārasaṅgraha, Rasoddhāratantra'' or ''Rasasaṃhitā'', and '' Rasopaniṣad''.<ref name="Egbert Forsten" /> }} The discussion of these works in HIML gives a summary of the contents of each work, their special features, and where possible the evidence concerning their dating. Chapter 13 of HIML, ''Various works on rasaśāstra and ratnaśāstra'' (or ''Various works on alchemy and gems'') gives brief details of a further 655 (six hundred and fifty-five) treatises. In some cases Meulenbeld gives notes on the contents and authorship of these works; in other cases references are made only to the unpublished manuscripts of these titles.

A great deal remains to be discovered about Indian alchemical literature. The content of the Sanskrit alchemical corpus has not yet (2014) been adequately integrated into the wider general history of alchemy.

=== Islamic world ===
{{Main|Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam}}
[[File:Al-Jaahith - African Arab Naturalist - Basra - al jahiz.jpg|thumb|upright|15th-century artistic impression of [[Jābir ibn Hayyān|Jabir ibn Hayyan]] (Geber), Codici Ashburnhamiani 1166, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence]]

After [[the Fall of the Roman Empire|the fall of the Roman Empire]], the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about [[Islam]]ic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations.<ref>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=46 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref> The word ''alchemy'' itself was derived from the Arabic word ''al-kīmiyā'' (الكيمياء). The early Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. [[Plato]]nic and [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuries through [[Syriac language|Syriac]] translations and scholarship.

In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, the Arabic works attributed to [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]] (Latinized as "Geber" or "Geberus") introduced a new approach to alchemy. [[Paul Kraus (Arabist)|Paul Kraus]], who wrote the standard reference work on Jabir, put it as follows:

{{blockquote|To form an idea of the historical place of Jabir's alchemy and to tackle the problem of its sources, it is advisable to compare it with what remains to us of the alchemical literature in the [[Greek language]]. One knows in which miserable state this literature reached us. Collected by [[Byzantine science|Byzantine scientists]] from the tenth century, the corpus of the Greek alchemists is a cluster of incoherent fragments, going back to all the times since the third century until the end of the Middle Ages.

The efforts of Berthelot and Ruelle to put a little order in this mass of literature led only to poor results, and the later researchers, among them in particular Mrs. Hammer-Jensen, Tannery, Lagercrantz, von Lippmann, Reitzenstein, Ruska, Bidez, Festugière and others, could make clear only few points of detail ....

The study of the Greek alchemists is not very encouraging. An even surface examination of the Greek texts shows that a very small part only was organized according to true experiments of laboratory: even the supposedly technical writings, in the state where we find them today, are unintelligible nonsense which refuses any interpretation.

It is different with Jabir's alchemy. The relatively clear description of the processes and the alchemical apparati, the methodical classification of the substances, mark an experimental spirit which is extremely far away from the weird and odd esotericism of the Greek texts. The theory on which Jabir supports his operations is one of clearness and of an impressive unity. More than with the other Arab authors, one notes with him a balance between theoretical teaching and practical teaching, between the ''[[Ilm (Arabic)|'ilm]]'' and the ''amal''. In vain one would seek in the Greek texts a work as systematic as that which is presented, for example, in the ''Book of Seventy''.<ref name=Kraus>Kraus, Paul, Jâbir ibn Hayyân, ''Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam. I. Le corpus des écrits jâbiriens. II. Jâbir et la science grecque,''. Cairo (1942–1943). Repr. By Fuat Sezgin, (Natural Sciences in Islam. 67–68), Frankfurt. 2002:
(cf. {{cite web |author=Ahmad Y Hassan |title=A Critical Reassessment of the Geber Problem: Part Three |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/geber/geber%2003.html|access-date=16 September 2014|author-link=Ahmad Y Hassan|archive-date=28 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528120216/http://www.history-science-technology.com/geber/geber%2003.html|url-status=live}})</ref>}}

Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard was arguably Jabir. Jabir's ultimate goal was ''[[Takwin]]'', the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to, and including, human life. He analysed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of ''hotness'', ''coldness'', ''dryness'', and ''moistness''.<ref name=burckhardt29 /> According to Jabir, in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result.<ref name=burckhardt29>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=29 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref> By this reasoning, the search for the [[philosopher's stone]] was introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate [[numerology]] whereby the root letters of a substance's name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to the element's physical properties.

The elemental system used in medieval alchemy also originated with Jabir. His original system consisted of seven elements, which included the five [[classical element]]s ([[aether (classical element)|aether]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Earth (classical element)|earth]], [[Fire (classical element)|fire]], and [[Water (classical element)|water]]) in addition to two [[chemical element]]s representing the metals: [[Sulfur|sulphur]], "the stone which burns", which characterized the principle of combustibility, and [[Mercury (element)|mercury]], which contained the idealized principle of metallic properties.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} Shortly thereafter, this evolved into eight elements, with the Arabic concept of the three metallic principles: sulphur giving flammability or combustion, mercury giving volatility and stability, and [[Salt (chemistry)|salt]] giving solidity.<ref name="r8">Strathern, Paul. (2000), ''Mendeleyev's Dream – the Quest for the Elements'', New York: [[Berkley Books]]</ref>{{Verify source|date=January 2021}}{{Better source needed|date=January 2021}} The [[atomic theory]] of [[corpuscularianism]], where all physical bodies possess an inner and outer layer of minute particles or corpuscles, also has its origins in the work of Jabir.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Distilling knowledge: alchemy, chemistry, and the scientific revolution |first=Bruce T. |last=Moran |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-674-01495-4 |page=146 |quote=a corpuscularian tradition in alchemy stemming from the speculations of the medieval author Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan)}}</ref>

From the 9th to 14th centuries, alchemical theories faced criticism from a variety of practical Muslim chemists, including [[Al-Kindi|Alkindus]],<ref>Felix Klein-Frank (2001), "Al-Kindi", in [[Oliver Leaman]] & [[Hossein Nasr]], ''History of Islamic Philosophy'', p. 174. London: [[Routledge]].</ref> [[Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marmura |first1=Michael E. |name-list-style=vanc |year=1965 |title=''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwan Al-Safa'an, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Sina'' by Seyyed Hossein Nasr |journal=Speculum |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=744–746 |doi=10.2307/2851429 |jstor=2851429}}</ref> [[Avicenna]]<ref>[[Robert Briffault]] (1938). ''The Making of Humanity'', pp. 196–197.</ref> and [[Ibn Khaldun]]. In particular, they wrote refutations against the idea of the [[Philosopher's stone|transmutation of metals]].

From the 14th century onwards, many materials and practices originally belonging to Indian alchemy ([[Rasayana]]) were assimilated in the Persian texts written by Muslim scholars.<ref>{{harvnb|Speziale|2019}}</ref>

=== East Asia ===
{{Main|Chinese alchemy}}
Researchers have found evidence that Chinese alchemists and philosophers discovered complex mathematical phenomena that were shared with Arab alchemists during the medieval period. Discovered in BC China, the "magic square of three" was propagated to followers of [[Jabir ibn Hayyan|Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān]] at some point over the proceeding several hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |title=Theoretical Influences of China on Arabic Alchemy |publisher=UC Biblioteca Geral 1 |year=1987 |page=11}}</ref> Other commonalities shared between the two alchemical schools of thought include discrete naming for ingredients and heavy influence from the natural elements. The silk road provided a clear path for the exchange of goods, ideas, ingredients, religion, and many other aspects of life with which alchemy is intertwined.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saliba |first=George |date=2008 |title="China and Islamic Civilization: Exchange of Techniques and Scientific Ideas" |url=https://edspace.american.edu/silkroadjournal/wp-content/uploads/sites/984/2017/09/China-and-Islamic-Civilization.pdf |website=American University |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=23 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223213548/https://edspace.american.edu/silkroadjournal/wp-content/uploads/sites/984/2017/09/China-and-Islamic-Civilization.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Esoteric Taijitu.svg|thumb|upright|Taoist alchemists often use this alternate version of the [[taijitu]].]]
Whereas European alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble metals, Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine.<ref name="ASOCA">[Obed Simon Johnson, A Study of Chinese Alchemy, Shanghai, Commercial P, 1928. rpt. New York: Arno P, 1974.]</ref> The philosopher's stone of European alchemists can be compared to the [[Elixir of life|Grand Elixir of Immortality]] sought by Chinese alchemists. In the hermetic view, these two goals were not unconnected, and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the [[Panacea (medicine)|universal panacea]]; therefore, the two traditions may have had more in common than initially appears.

As early as 317 AD, [[Ge Hong]] documented the use of metals, minerals, and elixirs in early Chinese medicine. Hong identified three ancient Chinese documents, titled ''Scripture of Great Clarity, Scripture of the Nine Elixirs'', and ''Scripture of the Golden Liquor,'' as texts containing fundamental alchemical information.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=3}}</ref> He also described alchemy, along with meditation, as the sole spiritual practices that could allow one to gain immortality or to transcend.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=6}}</ref> In his work ''Inner Chapters of the Book of the Master Who Embraces Spontaneous Nature'' (317 AD), Hong argued that alchemical solutions such as elixirs were preferable to traditional medicinal treatment due to the spiritual protection they could provide.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=125}}</ref> In the centuries following Ge Hong's death, the emphasis placed on alchemy as a spiritual practice among Chinese [[Taoism|Daoists]] was reduced.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=142}}</ref> In 499 AD, [[Tao Hongjing]] refuted Hong's statement that alchemy is as important a spiritual practice as Shangqing meditation.<ref name=":5" /> While Hongjing did not deny the power of alchemical elixirs to grant immortality or provide divine protection, he ultimately found the ''Scripture of the Nine Elixirs'' to be ambiguous and spiritually unfulfilling, aiming to implement more accessible practising techniques.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=145}}</ref>

In the early 700s, [[Neidan]] (also known as internal alchemy) was adopted by Daoists as a new form of alchemy. Neidan emphasized appeasing the inner gods that inhabit the human body by practising alchemy with compounds found in the body, rather than the mixing of natural resources that was emphasized in early Dao alchemy.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |date=2021 |title=The Alchemical Body in Daoism |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/5/article/782220 |journal=Journal of Daoist Studies |volume=14 |issue=14 |pages=99–127 |doi=10.1353/dao.2021.0003 |s2cid=228176118 |issn=1941-5524}}</ref> For example, saliva was often considered nourishment for the inner gods and did not require any conscious alchemical reaction to produce. The inner gods were not thought of as physical presences occupying each person, but rather a collection of deities that are each said to represent and protect a specific body part or region.<ref name=":6" /> Although those who practised Neidan prioritized meditation over external alchemical strategies, many of the same elixirs and constituents from previous Daoist alchemical schools of thought continued to be utilized in tandem with meditation. Eternal life remained a consideration for Neidan alchemists, as it was believed that one would become immortal if an inner god were to be immortalized within them through spiritual fulfilment.<ref name=":6" />

[[Black powder]] may have been an important invention of Chinese alchemists. It is said that the Chinese invented gunpowder while trying to find a [[potion]] for eternal life. Described in 9th-century texts{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} and used in [[fireworks]] in China by the 10th century,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-29 |title=Gunpowder {{!}} Facts, History, & Definition |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/gunpowder |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> it was used in [[cannon]]s by 1290.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} From China, the use of [[gunpowder]] spread to Japan, the [[Mongol]]s, the Muslim world, and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in 1241, and in Europe by the 14th century.

Chinese alchemy was closely connected to [[Taoist]] forms of [[traditional Chinese medicine]], such as [[Acupuncture]] and [[Moxibustion]].<ref name="ASOCA" /> In the early [[Song dynasty]], followers of this Taoist idea (chiefly the elite and upper class) would ingest [[cinnabar|mercuric sulfide]], which, though tolerable in low levels, led many to suicide.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Thinking that this consequential death would lead to freedom and access to the Taoist heavens, the ensuing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method of alchemy in favour of external sources{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} (the aforementioned Tai Chi Chuan,{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} mastering of the [[qi]],{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} etc.) Chinese alchemy was introduced to the West by [[Obed Simon Johnson]].<ref name="ASOCA" />

=== Medieval Europe ===
<!-- [[Aludel]] links to this section-->
[[File:WMS 446, R. Lullius, Ymage de Vie, late 15th Wellcome L0031726.jpg|thumb|"An illuminated page from a book on alchemical processes and receipts", ca. 15th century]]

The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe may be dated to 11 February 1144, with the completion of [[Robert of Chester]]'s translation of the {{lang|la|[[Liber de compositione alchemiae]]}} ("Book on the Composition of Alchemy") from an Arabic work attributed to [[Khalid ibn Yazid]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moureau |first1=Sébastien |year=2020 |title=Min al-kīmiyāʾ ad alchimiam. The Transmission of Alchemy from the Arab-Muslim World to the Latin West in the Middle Ages |journal=Micrologus |volume=28 |issue= |pages=87–141 |hdl=2078.1/211340 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/211340}} p. 116.</ref> Although European craftsmen and technicians pre-existed, Robert notes in his preface that alchemy (here still referring to the [[philosophers' stone|elixir]] rather than to the art itself)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Halleux |first1=Robert |year=1996 |title=The Reception of Arabic Alchemy in the West|editor1-last=Rashed|editor1-first=Roshdi|editor1-link=Roshdi Rashed |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science |volume=3 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=886–902 |isbn=978-0-415-02063-3}} p. 890; {{harvnb|Moureau|2020|p=90}}.</ref> was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of his writing. The translation of Arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century [[Toledo, Spain]], through contributors like [[Gerard of Cremona]] and [[Adelard of Bath]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=105–108}}</ref> Translations of the time included the [[Turba Philosophorum]], and the works of [[Avicenna]] and [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi]]. These brought with them many new words to the European vocabulary for which there was no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol, [[carboy]], [[elixir]], and [[athanor]] are examples.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|p=110}}</ref>

Meanwhile, theologian contemporaries of the translators made strides towards the reconciliation of faith and experimental rationalism, thereby priming Europe for the influx of alchemical thought. The 11th-century [[Anselm of Canterbury|St&nbsp;Anselm]] put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. In the early 12th century, [[Peter Abelard]] followed Anselm's work, laying down the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle had reached the West. In the early 13th century, [[Robert Grosseteste]] used Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observation, experimentation, and conclusions when conducting scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did much work to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.<ref name=hollister294f>{{cite book |author=Hollister, C. Warren |title=Medieval Europe: A Short History |location=Blacklick, Ohio |publisher=McGraw–Hill College |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-07-557141-4 |edition=6th |pages=[https://archive.org/details/medievaleurope00cwar/page/294 294f] |url=https://archive.org/details/medievaleurope00cwar/page/294}}</ref>

Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemical knowledge in Europe remained centered on translations, and new Latin contributions were not made. The efforts of the translators were succeeded by that of the encyclopaedists. In the 13th century, [[Albertus Magnus]] and [[Roger Bacon]] were the most notable of these, their work summarizing and explaining the newly imported alchemical knowledge in Aristotelian terms.<ref>John Read. ''From Alchemy to Chemistry''. 1995 p.90</ref> Albertus Magnus, a [[Dominican Order|Dominican friar]], is known to have written works such as the ''Book of Minerals'' where he observed and commented on the operations and theories of alchemical authorities like [[Hermes Trismegistus]], [[pseudo-Democritus]] and unnamed alchemists of his time. Albertus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation of metals. From the time shortly after his death through to the 15th century, more than 28 alchemical tracts were misattributed to him, a common practice giving rise to his reputation as an accomplished alchemist.<ref>{{interlanguage link|James A. Weisheipl|it|James Athanasius Weisheipl|sv|James Athanasius Weisheipl}}. ''Albertus Magnus and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays.'' PIMS. 1980. pp. 187–202</ref> Likewise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert's student [[Thomas Aquinas]].

Roger Bacon, a [[Franciscan Order|Franciscan friar]] who wrote on a wide variety of topics including [[optics]], [[comparative linguistics]], and medicine, composed his ''[[Opus Majus|Great Work]]'' ({{langx|la|Opus Majus}}) for {{nowrap|[[Pope Clement IV]]}} as part of a project towards rebuilding the [[medieval university]] curriculum to include the new learning of his time. While alchemy was not more important to him than other sciences and he did not produce allegorical works on the topic, he did consider it and astrology to be important parts of both natural philosophy and theology and his contributions advanced alchemy's connections to [[soteriology]] and Christian theology. Bacon's writings integrated morality, salvation, alchemy, and the prolongation of life. His correspondence with Clement highlighted this, noting the importance of alchemy to the papacy.<ref>Edmund Brehm. "Roger Bacon's Place in the History of Alchemy." ''Ambix.'' Vol. 23, Part I, March 1976.</ref> Like the Greeks before him, Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemy into practical and theoretical spheres. He noted that the theoretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle, the natural philosophers, and all Latin writers of his time. The practical confirmed the theoretical, and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=120–121}}</ref> In later European legend, he became an archmage. In particular, along with Albertus Magnus, he was credited with the forging of a [[brazen head]] capable of answering its owner's questions.

Soon after Bacon, the influential work of [[Pseudo-Geber]] (sometimes identified as [[Paul of Taranto]]) appeared. His ''Summa Perfectionis'' remained a staple summary of alchemical practice and theory through the medieval and renaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion of practical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercury theory, and the unusual clarity with which they were described.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=134–141}}</ref> By the end of the 13th century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one could learn the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the [[soul|human soul]]). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded [[jargon]] set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practised their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made [[observation]]s and [[theory|theories]] about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God.<ref>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=149 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Gold and Silver Act 1403
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = It shall be felony to use the craft of multiplication of gold or silver.
| year                  = 1404
| citation              = [[5 Hen. 4]]. c. 4
| introduced_commons    =
| introduced_lords      =
| territorial_extent    =
| royal_assent          = 20 March 1404
| commencement          = 14 January 1404
| expiry_date           =
| repeal_date           =
| amends                =
| replaces              =
| amendments            =
| repealing_legislation = [[Royal Mines Act 1688]]
| related_legislation   =
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   =
| theyworkforyou        =
| millbankhansard       =
| original_text         =
| revised_text          =
| use_new_UK-LEG        =
| UK-LEG_title          =
| collapsed             = yes
}}
In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessible to Europeans outside the confines of Latin-speaking churchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shifted from scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed social commentary on the alchemists themselves.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' University of Chicago Press, 2007. p. 49</ref> [[Dante]], [[Piers Plowman]], and [[Chaucer]] all painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars. [[Pope John XXII]]'s 1317 edict, ''[[Spondent quas non-exhibent]]'' forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-alchemists.<ref>John Hines, II, R. F. Yeager. ''John Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition.'' Boydell & Brewer. 2010. p.170</ref> Roman Catholic Inquisitor General [[Nicholas Eymerich]]'s ''[[Directorium Inquisitorum]]'', written in 1376, associated alchemy with the performance of demonic rituals, which Eymerich differentiated from magic performed in accordance with scripture.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Tarrant |first=Neil |date=2018 |title=Between Aquinas and Eymerich: The Roman Inquisition's Use of Dominican Thought in the Censorship of Alchemy |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00026980.2018.1512779 |journal=Ambix |language=en |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=210–231 |doi=10.1080/00026980.2018.1512779 |pmid=30134775 |s2cid=52070616 |issn=0002-6980 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=16 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216012751/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00026980.2018.1512779 |url-status=live}}</ref> This did not, however, lead to any change in the Inquisition's monitoring or prosecution of alchemists.<ref name=":7" /> In 1404, Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals by the passing of the {{visible anchor|Gold and Silver Act 1403}} ([[5 Hen. 4]]. c. 4) (although it was possible to buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically, and a number were granted by Henry VI and Edward IV).<ref>D. Geoghegan, "A licence of Henry VI to practise Alchemy" Ambix, vol. 6, 1957, pp. 10–17</ref> These critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy, which continued with an increasingly Christian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian imagery of death and resurrection employed in the alchemical texts of [[Petrus Bonus]], [[John of Rupescissa]], and in works written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnold of Villanova.<ref>[[Leah DeVun]]. ''From Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupescissa in the late Middle Ages.'' Columbia University Press, 2009. p. 104</ref>

[[File:Joseph Wright of Derby The Alchemist.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[The Alchemist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone]]'', by Joseph Wright, 1771]]
[[Nicolas Flamel]] is a well-known alchemist to the point where he had many [[pseudepigraphy|pseudepigraphic]] imitators. Although the historical Flamel existed, the writings and legends assigned to him only appeared in 1612.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|2003|p=123}}</ref><ref>"Nicolas Flamel. Des Livres et de l'or" by Nigel Wilkins</ref>

A common idea in European alchemy in the medieval era was a metaphysical "[[Homer]]ic chain of wise men that link[ed] heaven and earth"<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=[[Taschen]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=514 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary}}</ref> that included ancient pagan [[Philosophy|philosophers]] and other important historical figures.

=== Renaissance and early modern Europe ===
{{Further|Renaissance magic|natural magic}}
{{multiple image
 | total_width = 300
 | image1 = Raimundus Lullus alchemic page.jpg
 | caption1 = Page from alchemic treatise of [[Ramon Llull]], 16th century
 | image2 = Splendor Solis 22 sun rising over city.jpg
 | caption2 = The red sun rising over the city, the final illustration of 16th-century alchemical text, ''[[Splendor Solis]]''. The word [[rubedo]], meaning "redness", was adopted by alchemists and signalled alchemical success, and the end of the great work.
}}

During the [[Renaissance]], Hermetic and Platonic foundations were restored to European alchemy. The dawn of medical, pharmaceutical, occult, and entrepreneurial branches of alchemy followed.

In the late 15th century, [[Marsilio Ficino]] translated the [[Corpus Hermeticum]] and the works of Plato into Latin. These were previously unavailable to Europeans who for the first time had a full picture of the alchemical theory that Bacon had declared absent. [[Renaissance Humanism]] and [[Renaissance Neoplatonism]] guided alchemists away from [[physics]] to refocus on mankind as the alchemical vessel.

Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into a broader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, astrology, and Christian cabala.<ref>Peter J. Forshaw. '"Chemistry, That Starry Science" – Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology and Alchemy' (2013)</ref><ref>Peter J. Forshaw, 'Cabala Chymica or Chemia Cabalistica – Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala' (2013)</ref> A key figure in this development was German [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]] (1486–1535), who received his Hermetic education in Italy in the schools of the humanists. In his ''De Occulta Philosophia'', he attempted to merge [[Kabbalah]], Hermeticism, and alchemy. He was instrumental in spreading this new blend of Hermeticism outside the borders of Italy.<ref>Glenn Alexander Magee. ''Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition.'' Cornell University Press. 2008. p.30</ref><ref>Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. ''The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction.'' Oxford University Press. 2008 p.60</ref>

[[Paracelsus]] (Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) cast alchemy into a new form, rejecting some of Agrippa's occultism and moving away from [[chrysopoeia]]. Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote, "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines."<ref>{{cite book |author=Edwardes, Michael |title=The Dark Side of History |location=New York |publisher=Stein and Day |year=1977 |page=47 |isbn=978-0-552-11463-9}}</ref>

His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them.<ref>{{cite book |author=Debus, Allen G. |author2=Multhauf, Robert P. |author2-link=Robert P. Multhauf |title=Alchemy and Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century |location=Los Angeles |publisher=William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California. |year=1966 |pages=6–12 |author-link=Allen G. Debus}}</ref> [[Iatrochemistry]] refers to the pharmaceutical applications of alchemy championed by Paracelsus.

[[John Dee]] (13 July 1527 – December 1608) followed Agrippa's occult tradition. Although better known for angel summoning, divination, and his role as [[astrologer]], cryptographer, and consultant to [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], Dee's alchemical<ref>"''Monas hieroglyphica'' is not a traditional alchemical work, but has important theoretical insights about a cosmic vision, in which alchemy played an important part."{{cite web |last=Szőnyi |first=György E. |year=2015 |url=http://www.renesancni-texty.upol.cz/soubory/publikace/Latin_Alchemical_Literature_of_Czech_Provenance.pdf |title='Layers of Meaning in Alchemy in John Dee's Monas hieroglyphica and its Relevance in a Central European Context' |publisher=Centre for Renaissance Texts, 2015, 118| access-date = 22 June 2016| archive-date = 12 August 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160812223446/http://www.renesancni-texty.upol.cz/soubory/publikace/Latin_Alchemical_Literature_of_Czech_Provenance.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref> ''Monas Hieroglyphica'', written in 1564 was his most popular and influential work. His writing portrayed alchemy as a sort of terrestrial astronomy in line with the Hermetic axiom ''As above so below''.<ref>[[William R. Newman|William Royall Newman]], Anthony Grafton. ''Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe''. MIT Press, 2001. P.173.</ref> During the 17th century, a short-lived "supernatural" interpretation of alchemy became popular, including support by fellows of the [[Royal Society]]: [[Robert Boyle]] and [[Elias Ashmole]]. Proponents of the supernatural interpretation of alchemy believed that the philosopher's stone might be used to summon and communicate with angels.<ref>
* ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', '''41''', 1980, pp. 293–318
* {{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|pp=399}}
* ''The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest'', by [[Lawrence M. Principe]], 'Princeton University Press', 1998, '''pp. 188 90'''</ref>

Entrepreneurial opportunities were common for the alchemists of Renaissance Europe. Alchemists were contracted by the elite for practical purposes related to mining, medical services, and the production of chemicals, medicines, metals, and gemstones.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' p.4</ref> [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor]], in the late 16th century, famously received and sponsored various alchemists at his court in Prague, including Dee and his associate [[Edward Kelley]]. [[James IV of Scotland|King James IV of Scotland]],<ref>''Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland'', vol. iii, (1901), 99, 202, 206, 209, 330, 340, 341, 353, 355, 365, 379, 382, 389, 409.</ref> [[Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], [[Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], [[Augustus, Elector of Saxony]], [[Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn]], and [[Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel]] all contracted alchemists.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' pp. 85–98</ref> John's son [[Arthur Dee]] worked as a court physician to [[Michael I of Russia]] and [[Charles I of England]] but also compiled the alchemical book ''[[Fasciculus Chemicus]]''.

[[File:Alchemik Sedziwoj Matejko.JPG|thumb|''Alchemist [[Sendivogius]]'' (1566–1636) by [[Jan Matejko]], 1867]]
Although most of these appointments were legitimate, the trend of pseudo-alchemical fraud continued through the Renaissance. ''Betrüger'' would use sleight of hand, or claims of secret knowledge to make money or secure patronage. Legitimate mystical and medical alchemists such as [[Michael Maier]] and [[Heinrich Khunrath]] wrote about fraudulent transmutations, distinguishing themselves from the [[con artist]]s.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' p.171</ref> False alchemists were sometimes prosecuted for fraud.

The terms "chemia" and "alchemia" were used as synonyms in the early modern period, and the differences between alchemy, chemistry and small-scale assaying and metallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. There were important overlaps between practitioners, and trying to classify them into alchemists, chemists and craftsmen is anachronistic. For example, [[Tycho Brahe]] (1546–1601), an alchemist better known for his [[astronomical]] and [[astrological]] investigations, had a laboratory built at his [[Uraniborg]] observatory/research institute. [[Michał Sędziwój|Michael Sendivogius]] (''Michał Sędziwój'', 1566–1636), a [[Poland|Polish]] alchemist, philosopher, medical doctor and pioneer of chemistry wrote mystical works but is also credited with distilling [[oxygen]] in a lab sometime around 1600. Sendivogious taught his technique to [[Cornelius Drebbel]] who, in 1621, applied this in a submarine. [[Isaac Newton]] devoted considerably more of his writing to the study of alchemy (see [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]]) than he did to either optics or physics. Other early modern alchemists who were eminent in their other studies include [[Robert Boyle]], and [[Jan Baptist van Helmont]]. Their Hermeticism complemented rather than precluded their practical achievements in medicine and science.

=== Later modern period ===
[[File:The Shannon Portrait of the Hon Robert Boyle.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Robert Boyle]]]]
[[File:Alchemist.png|thumb|right|An alchemist, pictured in Charles Mackay's ''[[Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds]]'']]
The decline of European alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for "ancient wisdom". Although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the 17th century, alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years, and in fact may have reached its peak in the 18th century. As late as 1781 [[James Price (chemist)|James Price]] claimed to have produced a powder that could transmute mercury into silver or gold. Early modern European alchemy continued to exhibit a diversity of theories, practices, and purposes: "Scholastic and anti-Aristotelian, Paracelsian and anti-Paracelsian, Hermetic, Neoplatonic, mechanistic, vitalistic, and more—plus virtually every combination and compromise thereof."<ref name="Alchemy Restored">{{cite journal |last1=Principe |first1=Lawrence M |author-link1=Lawrence M. Principe |year=2011 |title=Alchemy Restored |journal=Isis |volume=102 |issue=2 |pages=305–12 |doi=10.1086/660139 |pmid=21874690 |s2cid=23581980}}</ref>

[[Robert Boyle]] (1627–1691) pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data. Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out, the wind characteristics, the position of the Sun and Moon, and the barometer reading, all just in case they proved to be relevant.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pilkington, Roger |title=Robert Boyle: Father of Chemistry |location=London |publisher=John Murray |year=1959 |page=11}}</ref> This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries and ideas of [[Antoine Lavoisier|Lavoisier]] and [[John Dalton]].

Beginning around 1720, a rigid distinction began to be drawn for the first time between "alchemy" and "chemistry".<ref name="NewmanPrincipe2002p37">{{Harvnb|Newman|Principe|2002|p=37}}</ref><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp386">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=386}}</ref> By the 1740s, "alchemy" was now restricted to the realm of gold making, leading to the popular belief that alchemists were charlatans, and the tradition itself nothing more than a fraud.<ref name="Alchemy Restored" /><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp386" /> In order to protect the developing science of modern chemistry from the negative censure to which alchemy was being subjected, academic writers during the 18th-century scientific Enlightenment attempted to divorce and separate the "new" chemistry from the "old" practices of alchemy. This move was mostly successful, and the consequences of this continued into the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanpp386–7">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|pp=386–7}}</ref>

During the occult revival of the early 19th century, alchemy received new attention as an occult science.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp387">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=387}}</ref><ref name="KripalShuck2005p27">{{Harvnb|Kripal|Shuck|2005|p=27}}</ref> The esoteric or occultist school that arose during the 19th century held the view that the substances and operations mentioned in alchemical literature are to be interpreted in a spiritual sense, less than as a practical tradition or protoscience.<ref name="NewmanPrincipe2002p37" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Eliade|1994|p=49}}</ref><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp388">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=388}}</ref> This interpretation claimed that the obscure language of the alchemical texts, which 19th century practitioners were not always able to decipher, were an allegorical guise for spiritual, moral or mystical processes.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp388" />

Two seminal figures during this period were [[Mary Anne Atwood]] and [[Ethan A. Hitchcock (general)|Ethan Allen Hitchcock]], who independently published similar works regarding spiritual alchemy. Both rebuffed the growing successes of chemistry, developing a completely esoteric view of alchemy. Atwood wrote: "No modern art or chemistry, notwithstanding all its surreptitious claims, has any thing in common with Alchemy."<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp391">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=391}}</ref><ref name="Rutkin2001p143">{{Harvnb|Rutkin|2001|p=143}}</ref> Atwood's work influenced subsequent authors of the occult revival including [[Eliphas Levi]], [[Arthur Edward Waite]], and [[Rudolf Steiner]]. Hitchcock, in his ''Remarks Upon Alchymists'' (1855) attempted to make a case for his spiritual interpretation with his claim that the alchemists wrote about a spiritual discipline under a materialistic guise in order to avoid accusations of blasphemy from the church and state. In 1845, Baron [[Carl Reichenbach]], published his studies on [[Odic force]], a concept with some similarities to alchemy, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.<ref>Daniel Merkur. ''Gnosis: An Esoteric Tradition of Mystical Visions and Unions.'' SUNY Press. 1993 p.55</ref>

In 1946, [[Louis Cattiaux]] published the Message Retrouvé, a work that was at once philosophical, mystical and highly influenced by alchemy. In his lineage, many researchers, including Emmanuel and Charles d'Hooghvorst, are updating alchemical studies in France and Belgium.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Croire l'Incroyable. L'Ancien et le Nouveau dans l'étude des religions |last=Arola |first=Raimon |publisher=Beya |year=2006 |isbn=2-9600364-7-6 |location=Grez-Doiceau}}</ref>

=== Women ===
Several women appear in the earliest history of alchemy. [[Michael Maier]] names four women who were able to make the philosophers' stone: [[Mary the Jewess]], [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]], [[Medera]], and [[Paphnutia the Virgin|Taphnutia]].<ref>Raphael Patai. ''The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book.'' p. 78.</ref> Zosimos's sister Theosebia (later known as Euthica the Arab) and [[Isis the Prophetess]] also played roles in early alchemical texts.

The first alchemist whose name we know was Mary the Jewess ({{circa|200 A.D.}}).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Women in Chemistry: Their Changing Roles from Alchemical Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century |author1=Rayner-Canham, M |author2=Rayner-Canham, G |publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-941901-27-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/womeninchemistry0000rayn/page/2 2–4] |url=https://archive.org/details/womeninchemistry0000rayn/page/2}}</ref> Early sources claim that Mary (or Maria) devised a number of improvements to alchemical equipment and tools as well as novel techniques in chemistry.<ref name=":0" /> Her best known advances were in heating and distillation processes. The laboratory water-bath, known eponymously (especially in France) as the [[bain-marie]], is said to have been invented or at least improved by her.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book |last=Patai |first=R |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-691-00642-0 |pages=60–80}}</ref> Essentially a double-boiler, it was (and is) used in chemistry for processes that required gentle heating. The tribikos (a modified distillation apparatus) and the kerotakis (a more intricate apparatus used especially for sublimations) are two other advancements in the process of distillation that are credited to her.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The origins of alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt |last=Lindsay |first=J |publisher=Barnes & Noble |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-389-01006-7 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/240 240–250] |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/240}}</ref> Although we have no writing from Mary herself, she is known from the early-fourth-century writings of [[Zosimos of Panopolis]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book |last=Patai |first=R |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-691-00642-0 |pages=81–93}}</ref> After the Greco-Roman period, women's names appear less frequently in alchemical literature.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and beginning of the Renaissance, due to the emergence of print, women were able to access the alchemical knowledge from texts of the preceding centuries.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Meredith K. |title=Daughters of alchemy: women and scientific culture in early modern Italy |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-674-42587-3 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |oclc=905902839}}</ref> [[Caterina Sforza]], the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, is one of the few confirmed female alchemists after Mary the Jewess. As she owned an apothecary, she would practice science and conduct experiments in her botanic gardens and laboratories.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Boschiero |first=Luciano |date=1 July 2017 |title=The secret lives of women |journal=Metascience |language=en |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=199–200 |doi=10.1007/s11016-016-0144-z |s2cid=151860901 |issn=1467-9981}}</ref> Being knowledgeable in alchemy and pharmacology, she recorded all of her alchemical ventures in a manuscript named {{lang|it|Experimenti}} ('Experiments').<ref name=":3" /> The manuscript contained more than four hundred recipes covering alchemy as well as cosmetics and medicine.<ref name=":2" /> One of these recipes was for the water of talc.<ref name=":2" /> [[Talc]], which makes up talcum powder, is a mineral which, when combined with water and distilled, was said to produce a solution which yielded many benefits.<ref name=":2" /> These supposed benefits included turning silver to gold and rejuvenation.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Sforza |first=Caterina |title=Experimenti de la Ex[ellentissi]ma S[igno]ra Caterina da Furlj Matre de lo inllux[trissi]mo S[ignor] Giovanni de Medici |publisher=Loescher |year=1893 |isbn=978-1-147-83327-0 |location=Rome |pages=617–18 |language=it |translator-last=Pasolini |translator-first=Pier Desiderio |trans-title=Caterina Sforza |chapter=3 |translator-last2=Sylvester |translator-first2=Paul}}</ref> When combined with white wine, its powder form could be ingested to counteract poison.<ref name=":4" /> Furthermore, if that powder was mixed and drunk with white wine, it was said to be a source of protection from any poison, sickness, or plague.<ref name=":4" /> Other recipes were for making hair dyes, lotions, lip colours.<ref name=":2" /> There was also information on how to treat a variety of ailments from fevers and coughs to epilepsy and cancer.<ref name=":1" /> In addition, there were instructions on producing the quintessence (or [[Aether (classical element)|aether]]), an elixir which was believed to be able to heal all sicknesses, defend against diseases, and perpetuate youthfulness.<ref name=":1" /> She also wrote about creating the illustrious [[philosophers' stone]].<ref name=":1" />

Some women known for their interest in alchemy were [[Catherine de' Medici]], the Queen of France, and [[Marie de' Medici]], the following Queen of France, who carried out experiments in her personal laboratory.<ref name=":2" /> Also, [[Isabella d'Este]], the Marchioness of Mantua, made perfumes herself to serve as gifts.<ref name=":2" /> Due to the proliferation in alchemical literature of [[pseudepigrapha]] and anonymous works, however, it is difficult to know which of the alchemists were actually women. This contributed to a broader pattern in which male authors credited prominent noblewomen for beauty products with the purpose of appealing to a female audience. For example, in {{lang|it|Ricettario galante}} ("Gallant Recipe-Book"), the distillation of lemons and roses was attributed to [[Elisabetta Gonzaga]], the duchess of Urbino.<ref name=":2" /> In the same book, [[Isabella d'Aragona]], the daughter of Alfonso II of Naples, is accredited for recipes involving [[alum]] and mercury.<ref name=":2" /> [[Ippolita Maria Sforza]] is even referred to in an anonymous manuscript about a hand lotion created with rose powder and crushed bones.<ref name=":2" />

As the sixteenth century went on, scientific culture flourished and people began collecting "secrets". During this period "secrets" referred to experiments, and the most coveted ones were not those which were bizarre, but the ones which had been proven to yield the desired outcome.<ref name=":2" />  In this period, the only book of secrets ascribed to a woman was {{lang|it|I secreti della signora Isabella Cortese}} ('The Secrets of Signora Isabella Cortese').<ref name=":2" /> This book contained information on how to turn base metals into gold, medicine, and cosmetics.<ref name=":2" /> However, it is rumoured that a man, [[Girolamo Ruscelli]], was the real author and only used a female voice to attract female readers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sacco |first=Francesco G. |date=March 2016 |title=Meredith K. Ray, Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015. pp. 291. ISBN 978-0-674-50423-3 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-for-the-history-of-science/article/abs/meredith-k-ray-daughters-of-alchemy-women-and-scientific-culture-in-early-modern-italy-cambridge-ma-harvard-university-press-2015-pp-291-isbn-9780674504233-4500-3395-hardback/81117AA39C92F6F86BACF185AD15262F |journal=The British Journal for the History of Science |language=en |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=122–123 |doi=10.1017/S0007087416000078 |s2cid=146847844 |issn=0007-0874 |access-date=6 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206101904/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-for-the-history-of-science/article/abs/meredith-k-ray-daughters-of-alchemy-women-and-scientific-culture-in-early-modern-italy-cambridge-ma-harvard-university-press-2015-pp-291-isbn-9780674504233-4500-3395-hardback/81117AA39C92F6F86BACF185AD15262F |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the nineteenth-century, [[Mary Anne Atwood]]'s ''A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery'' (1850) marked the return of women during the [[occult revival]].

=== Modern historical research ===
The history of alchemy has become a recognized subject of academic study.<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013}}.</ref> As the language of the alchemists is analysed, historians are becoming more aware of the connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the evolution of science and [[philosophy]], the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, [[Kabbalah|kabbalism]], [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualism]], [[Rosicrucianism]], and other mystic movements.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/exeseso/ |title=Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Exeter, UK |publisher=University of Exeter|access-date=7 June 2011|archive-date=14 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814143841/http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/exeseso/}}</ref> Institutions involved in this research include The Chymistry of Isaac Newton project at [[Indiana University]], the [[University of Exeter]] Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO), the [[European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism]] (ESSWE), and the [[University of Amsterdam]]'s Sub-department for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the [[Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica]] in Amsterdam.

Journals which publish regularly on the topic of Alchemy include ''[[Ambix]]'', published by the [[Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry]], and ''[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]'', published by the [[History of Science Society]].