Article ID: CBB000952910

Textual Alchemy: The Transformation of Pseudo-Albertus Magnus's Semita Recta into the Mirror of Lights (2009)

unapi

This article explores the strategies of and the reasons behind the reworking of pseudo-Albertus Magnus's Semita recta into the Mirror of Lights. I argue that the redactor sought to provide a more comprehensive defence of the legitimacy of alchemy than found in the Semita recta. In the process of doing so, he reshaped the original text so as to present three units that addressed different parts of the alchemical opus: first, theory and justification of alchemy; second, basic information on substances and procedures; and, third, practice. The redactor employed sophisticated textual tools identical to those seen in scholastic texts. These strategies, I argue, constitute part of the redactor's attempt to bring authority and credibility to his project and to alchemy in general. Certainly, much more attention needs to be paid to these experiments of textual alchemy in order to understand the practice of alchemy in the late medieval period.

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Authors & Contributors
Crisciani, Chiara
Calvet, Antoine
Masayo Watanabe
Christopher Partridge
Garbutt, Adam Gwyndaf
Roberts, Alexandre M.
Concepts
Alchemy
Medicine
Science and culture
Science and religion
Natural philosophy
Occult sciences
Time Periods
Medieval
14th century
Ancient
13th century
Early modern
Renaissance
Places
Europe
China
India
England
Byzantium
South America
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