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+--- Thread: Thesis full text: Women's alchemical literature 1560-1616 (/showthread.php?tid=3229)
Thesis full text: Women's alchemical literature 1560-1616 - Paul Ferguson - 05-21-2026
Penny Bayer
"This thesis seeks to show that there were alchemical writings associated with women from Italy, France, the Swiss Cantons and England which originated in the period 1560 to 1616, and that these writings were read, translated, circulated, and referred to, at least up to 1660. The main evidence is provided by case studies: a printed book of secrets by Isabella Cortese (Venice, 1561); a sequence of late sixteenth and early seventeenth century manuscripts associated with Madame de la Martinville and Quercitan’s daughter (Jeanne du Port); and material, including an alchemical receipt book, associated with Lady Margaret Clifford (1560-1616). Supporting evidence suggests these women represent a wider participation of women in philosophical and practical alchemy, and adds to the evidence for evaluating women's participation in early modern philosophy and science. Women apparently read and wrote about alchemy, and assisted its diffusion through their work."
https://www.academia.edu/102359619/Womens_alchemical_literature_1560_1616_in_Italy_France_the_Swiss_Cantons_and_England_and_its_diffusion_to_1660