by Lanuza-Navarro, Tayra M.C.
The UNESCO courier, Jan.-Mar. 2011, p. 13, illus.
"In 1603, Giraldo Paris had already been living in Madrid for 33 years, as advisor to Philippe II on Flemish affairs. He had grown up in Anvers and made his fortune in the spice trade. He entertained all the Flemings at the Spanish court, surrounding himself with ambassadors and dignitaries, as well as pharmacists, doctors and scholars. Having retired from commerce with an immense fortune, Paris maintained a passion for alchemy. He was interested in the skills and knowledge of diamond cutters, apothecaries, distillers and herbalists."
John Hudson gives a talk on alchemy and the attempts by alchemists to make gold from base metals, presented on 18 January 2022. This is part of a series of online talks produced by the RSC Historical Group.
"Our archival researches at the Royal Society reveal that a small envelope attached to a 1675 letter from an Antwerp apothecary, A. Boutens, contained a sample of the ‘Ludus’ prepared as a remedy for the ‘stone disease’ then sweeping through Europe, which was first announced in J. B. van Helmont's De lithiasi (1644)."
Joseph Leopold Ratinckx (Antwerp, 9 January 1860 - Berchem, 17 November 1937) was a Belgian painter.
His father wanted him to be trained as a typographer after primary school and thus refused his son's request to attend the courses at the Academy of Fine Arts. As a result, Jos ended up in the studio of the Ratinckx brothers, cousins of his father, as an apprentice printer. However, it was his employer who was able to persuade the father to give his son a chance as a lithographer. For nine years, he then took drawing and painting lessons under the guidance of well-known professors and artists, including Nicaise De Keyser and Karel Verlat.
In the meantime, he became proficient in lithography but this profession no longer fascinated him. He wanted to fully indulge himself as a painter. Although he was known as a skilled watercolourist, he preferred oil painting. He was elected to the municipal council on 17 November 1895, but left the council upon his appointment as director and teacher at the municipal drawing school.
"Medicine and theology were accepted concerns of early modern noble and gentlewomen, and also arenas within which Paracelsian alchemy developed. It is therefore not surprising to find that some educated women engaged actively in Paracelsian alchemy in both its spiritual-philosophical and medicinal aspects, although the extent of this engagement is only beginning to be fully explored."
"In Prospero's America, Walter W. Woodward examines the transfer of alchemical culture to America by John Winthrop, Jr., one of English colonization's early giants. Winthrop participated in a pan-European network of natural philosophers who believed alchemy could improve the human condition and hasten Christ's Second Coming. Woodward demonstrates the influence of Winthrop and his philosophy on New England's cultural formation: its settlement, economy, religious toleration, Indian relations, medical practice, witchcraft prosecution, and imperial diplomacy. Prospero's America reconceptualizes the significance of early modern science in shaping New England hand in hand with Puritanism and politics."
"During his time in Windsor, Brewster began corresponding with John Winthrop, Jr., with whom he shared an interest in alchemy. Brewster had an alchemical laboratory in his home at Brewster’s Neck. In 1656, he believed he was close to discovering the universal cure, a common goal among alchemists."
