Short Video on alchemical books shown in artworks

[Paul Ferguson]

"Alongside the flasks and fires in the alchemist’s laboratory lay another tool no less vital to alchemical practice: the written word. For centuries books and manuscripts were the central instrument alchemists used to disseminate their ideas, trials, techniques, and secrets, and these texts reveal both the scientific rigor and the strange beauty of alchemical practice. Books of Secrets: Writing and Reading Alchemy [exhibition from 2014-15] illuminated the important role of the written word in alchemical pursuits by placing the actual books used by alchemists alongside historical artworks portraying their use."

https://vimeo.com/103750875

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Exhibition reviewed here:

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/1...ml?lang=en