The Hermetic Research Series
In general this series includes essays and new research on hermetic subjects with transcriptions and translations of hermetic texts. This series was originally issued in paperback format in order to produce lower priced books to complement the hardcover Magnum Opus series.
This was not a successful strategy as sales were very low so I have now issued eleven of the recent books on a CD-Rom. Future titles will be issued in hardbound copies only and eventually placed onto a supplementary CD-Rom.
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No. 11. Thomas Charnock's alchemical letter to Queen Elizabeth
Transcribed by Fiona Oliver. With an introduction by Adam McLean.
In this remarkable letter written to Queen Elizabeth in 1565, the alchemist Thomas Charnock makes the astounding offer to make gold for the Queen on pain of losing his head.
Charnock (1526-81) was fortunate to meet, early in his life, two alchemical adepts, in the 1540's he met I. S., a monk of Salisbury, and later a prior of Bath, who apparently had the secret of alchemy from George Ripley, the famous alchemist from Bridlington. From these two he was instructed in the art of alchemy.
In this long Epistle Charnock outlines his scheme to enlist the support of the Queen, explaining all the details of the cost and the profits that will be obtained.
Charnock's Epistle is, I believe, an important social document of the early Elizabethan period. It shows how seriously alchemy was taken at the highest levels in English society, and also how a sincere alchemist of that time tried to find ways to obtain support for his research. It gives a rare insight into the mind of an alchemist struggling to find a means for undertaking the expensive work of alchemy.
56 pages. A5 format.
The Hermetic Research Series of books is now available in a hardbound copy uniform with the books in the Magnum Opus and Hermetic Studies series. I can make up a copy in this format to order. There will be a delay of up to two weeks while I find time to bind up a copy for you.
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