The Business of Alchemy: Science and Culture in the Holy Roman Empire

141 Pages·1994·34.609 MB·English

by  Pamela H. Smith

SCIENCE AND CULTURE IN THE
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
Pamela H"' Smith
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UNIVERSITY
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
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CONTENTS
COPYRIGIIT © 1994 BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PUBLISHED DY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 41 WILLIAM STREET, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08540
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, CHICHESTER, WEST SUSSEX ACKNOWLEDG.MENT S Xi
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Prologue
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG/NG-IN-PUBLICATION D,1111 Evocation 3
SMITH, PAMELA H., 1957- ONE
THE BUSINESS OF ALCHEMY: SCIENCE AND CULTURE IN THE HOLY ROMAN Provenances 14
EMPIRE/ PAMELA H, SMITH,
P. CM. TWO . th
INCLUDES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES AND INDEX. Oeconomia rerum e t vHeorblyo rRuomm.. aCno Ensmtrpuicreti ng5 a6 Political Space m e
ISBN 0-691-05691-9
I. SCIENCE, RENAISSANCE. 2. SCIENCE-PHILOSOPHY-HISTORY. THREE
3. HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE-HJSTORY-1517-1648. 4. HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE Words: An Exchange o f Credit at the Court of the
HiSTORY-1648-1804. 5. BECHER, JOHANN JOACHIM, 1635-1682. The Commerce of Elector in Munich 93
I. TITLE.
West Indian Interlude 141
Ql25.2.S58 1994 306.4'5'0943'09032-DC20 93-44856 CIP
173
FOUR
TIils BOOK HAS BEEN COMPOSED IN TIMES ROMAN The Producti.o n o f Things: A Transmutation at the Habsburg Court
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOKS ARE PRINTED Interl u de in the Laboratory 228
ON ACID-FREE P,).PER AND MEET THE GUIDELINES FOR
PERMANENI•C E AN. D DURABILITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON/ FIVE
PRODUCTION GUIDELINES FOR.BOQK LONGEVITY d d Thm. gs: Th e Commerce of Scholars and the
Between Wor s an Promise of Ars 247
OF THE COUNCIL ON 'LIBRARY RESOURCES
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Epilogue
13579!08642 Projection 272
BIBLIOGRAPHY 279
INDEX 303
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1 Francesco Pianta the Younger (1630?-1692), The Spy or
Excessive Curiosity, wood-panel carving. Scuola Grande di S.
Rocco, Venice. 15
Figure 2 Portrait of Johann Joachim Becher, Mineralisches ABC, 1723.
The Huntington Library. 16
Figure 3 Daniel Neuberger, Allegorical Self-Portrait, ca. 1651, wax
relief. Kestner Museum, Hanover. 58
Figure 4 J. D. Welcker, Allegory of the Acquisition of Surinam by Count
Friedrich Casimir of Holland, 1669, oil on canvas. Staatliche
Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe. 142
Figure 5 Daniel Neuberger, Scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses, 1651,
wax relief. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. 148
Figure 6 Daniel Neuberger, Allegory of the Death of Ferdinand Ill,
1657, wax relief. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. 149
Figure 7 Frontispiece, Johann Joachim Becher, Politischer Discurs,
1673. 152
Figure 8 Jacob van Meurs (?), The Exchange, Amsterdam, 1663, in
Philipp von Zesen, Beschreibung der Stadt Amsterdam, 1664,
engraving. 153
Figure 9 Jacob van Meurs (?), The Kleveniers Doelen, Amsterdam,
1663, in Philipp von Zesen, Beschreibung der Stadt
Amsterdam, 1664, engraving. 154
Figure 10 Jacob van Meurs (?), The West India House, Amsterdam,
1663, in Philipp von Zesen, Beschreibung der Stadt
Amsterdam, 1664, engraving. 157
Figure 11 Jacob van Meurs (?), Heeren-Logement, Amsterdam, 1663, in
Philipp von Zesen, Beschreibung der Stadt Amsterdam, 1664,
engraving. 158
Figure 12 Jan van Kessel, Allegory of America, 1666, oil on copper. Alte
Pinakothek, Munich. 170
Figure 13 Jan van Kessel, Kunstkammer with Venus at Her Toilette, 1659,
oil on copper. Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe. 171
s ix
LIST OF I LLUSTRATION
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
. the Kunstsc h ra nk of King Gustavus
Figure 14 Alchemical medallion produced by Johann Joachim Becher, Figure 27 Ornament c1r6o3w0ms nUg niversi.t y o f Uppsala. 264
1675. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. 174 Adolphus, · h Joachim Becher,
· . embled. Jo ann
Figure 15 MFreotnatlilsepni,e c1e6, 6J1o. han1n7 5J oachim Becher, Natur-Kiindigung der Figure 28 TTrhz.ep uSsc Hyp ehrum se Bticeucsh eFna t~usl~i cus, 1689. The Huntington
Figure 16 Library. 274 J hann Joachim Becher,
KAulcnhsethmisictoarl imscehdeasl lMiouns epuromd,u cVeide nbnya .W en18ce0s las Seiler, 1677. Figure 29 TTrhiep uSsc Hypehrumse tBiceue sh eFna. tb1.rd o1. kc. uesn, d1o6w89n._ Toh e Huntington .
Figure 17
EJolhevanatni oJno avcihewim oBf ethche eKr,u 1n6st7-6u. nMd sW. 8e0rc4k6h, aOuss,t edreresiigcnheisdc hbey Figure 30 ELimbrbalreym. fr2o7m5 Jo h;1 ;; n HJouanct hin"i mgt oBne Lchiberra ,r Ty.r ipu2s7 H6 ermet1cus
Nationalbibliothek, Handschriften-Abteilung, Vienna. 194 Fatidicus, 1689· e
Figure 18 Floor plan of the Kunst- und Werckhaus, designed by Johann
Joachim Becher, 1676. Ms. 8046, Osterreichische
Nationalbibliothek, Handschriften-Abteilung, Vienna. 195
Figure 19 Floor plan for the house of the director, Kunst- und Werckhaus,
designed by Johann Joachim Becher, 1676. Ms. 8046,
Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Handschriften-Abtei!ung,
Vienna. 196
Figure 20 Folio 6r from Johann Joachim Becher, "Referat ... Was in
dem Kunst- Undt WerckhauB ... ," 1676. Ms. 8046,
Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Handschriften-Abteilung,
Vienna. 197
Figure 21 Frontispiece, Johann Joachim Becher, Physica Subterranea,
1669. 205
Figure 22 Folio 2r from Johann Joachim Becher, "Gutachten iiber Herrn
Daniels Marsaly Process zur Tinctur," 1674. Ms. 11472,
Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Handschriften-Abteilung,
Vienna. 218
Figure 23 Frontispiece, Philipp Wilhelm von Homigk, Oesterreich iiber
alles, wann es nur will, 1738. 220
Figure 24 Frontispiece, Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum Sapientiae
Aeternae, 1609. Deutsches Museum, Munich. 229
Figure 25 After Pieter Breughel the Elder, The Alchemists in the
Peasant's Kitchen, sixteenth century, engraving. Deutsches
Museum, Munich. 232
Figure 26 David Teniers the Younger, The Alchemist, 1640s (engraving
by Pierre Franc;ois Basan). Courtesy Fisher Scientific. 233
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I N 'YRITING this book I have incurred a number ofunpayable obligations,
which, unlike other sorts of debts, it gives me great pleasure to acknowl
edge. I am especially pleased to make clear the intellectual debt I owe to
Owen Hannaway, who both suggested the primary matter of this study and, by
the example of his own approach to the problems of early modernity and his
close readings of texts, imparted an organizing form. I am also indebted to
Mack Walker, whose concept of the structure of early modern German society
provided a matrix of place for the characters and ideas in the story.
As this book evolved, it benefited from the institutional support of the De
partment of History of Science of the Johns Hopkins University, the Program
for Comparative European History at the Villa Spelman in Florence, and
P~mona College. Fellowships from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch
dienst, the Forschungsinstitut of the Deutsches Museum, the Long and Wid
mont Memorial Foundation, and Pomona College made possible the research
for this book. In connection with these fellowships, I owe thanks to Dr. Otto
Mayr and Frau Nida-Riimelin of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. I am also
grateful for the institutional framework provided by Professor Dr. Karin Figala
and the Deutsches Museum. My doctoral dissertation, "Alchemy, Credit, and
the Commerce of Words and Things: Johann Joachim Becher at the Courts of
the Holy Roman Empire, 1635-82" (Johns Hopkins University, 1990), con
tains the original German of all passages translated here. Material from this
book has appeared in different form and with a different purpose in Patronage
and Institutions: Science, Technology, and Medicine at the European Court,
1500-1750, ed. Bruce T. Moran (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell, 1991), and
Is.i sA 8m5o (n1g9 9th4e) .m any people whose comments have helped me, I would espe-
cially like to thank Mario Biagioli, William Clark, Ronald Cluett, Betty Jo
Dobbs, Anthony Grafton, Sharon Kingsland, Pamela Long, Christoph Meinel,
Bruce Moran, Richard Olson, Orest Ranum, Lisa Rosner, Simon Schaffer, and
RoMbearnt yW weostnmdaenrf.u l hours were spent in libraries and archives in various parts of
the world, but I would like to single out for special thanks the staff of the
Bayrische StaatsbibJiothek in Munich, the archivists of the Hofkammerarchiv
in Vienna, and the very helpful staff of the library of the University in Rostock.
Intense and wonderful hours-even days-were spent too in conversation
with friends, and their insights helped shape this book. David J. S. King and
Mary Voss participated in most stages of this work, as did Michael Dennis,
Dianne Pitman, and Jay Tribby. More recently Paula Findlen, Helena Wall,
d ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Peggy Waller, and Elazar Barkan have provided intellectual companionship and
much appreciated encouragement.
I am glad to have an opportunity to express my debt to my parents, Ronald
Smith and Nancy Crenshaw Smith. Finally, I think with loving memory of my
grandmother, Elisabeth Cluverius Crenshaw Working, whose love of books
and storytelling, as well as her frustrated intellect, made their way to me in
transmuted form. It was an impulse-not at all times fully conscious-to THE BUSINESS OF ALCHEMY
redeem her stymied aspirations that impelled me in the writing of this book.
Claremont, California
October 1993
.~
PROLOGUE
EVOCATION
I F THERE WERE a musical interlude to introduce this text it would be the
overture to an opera, a piece that could evoke the dramatic intricacies to
er come. We would hear the dark tones of the basso continuo, rising in
te e~ce~do, framing the drama, representing the increasing centralization of the
terr n.t on.e s· ofEu rope and the compellm. g locat1.0 n of that center at the court of the
c ntonal ruler. A burst of strings would signal the encroaching values of a
r ommercial economy on the feudal, agrarian world, their bows sounding out a
epeated, urgent "cash, cash, cash." The part of the winds, weaving its way
abr ound tl e b·c tss fr ame and through the theme of the stri•n gs, related to these parts
/t clear1ly working on an internal dynamic of its own, plays the organization of
h now ledge. Recurring within the theme of the winds is a motif played by the
vo ~ns, the relationship between words and things. Finally we hear a single
oof1 che ' da. ncm. g around between the m. tersti.c es of the strong bass and the themes
vo·t e_h,gher register, connecting the disparate parts of the music. This small
ice is the life of an individual. He mediates between the other voices, but he
al sToh m' e d'i ates them for us. He is our link to the past.
h is book is not an opera, but it does try to tie together diverse elements into a
/rm~nious narrative. It tells the story of a single individual as well as a
tharr;tive of intellectual and cultural transformation. The voice of this book is
c e ife of Johann Joachim Becher, spanning the last half of the seventeenth
;~tury (1635-82). Becher, who spent his life at the territorial courts of the
k Y Roman Empire and who was passionately concerned with the reform of
O
a ndo wledg e an d of materi.a l h.f e, allows us to enter m. to the cacophony of the past
t; ~hape it into a coherent piece. Out of his writings, the ideas expressed
a :em, his actions, the artifacts of his world (such as an alchemical medallion),
c n t?e narratives he told about himself and his world (such as his tale of a
du nr nmg alch em1· st ) we may connect the van·o us parts o f th e compos1·t 1· on to
che meate the parameters of his world as well as the long-term dynamics of
ange.
of At the h eart o f thi·s process of change in the early mo d ern pen.o d was a cri.s i.s
t authority. This crisis spanned an epistemological and chronological spec-
rum ' re ac hm' g from the deep personal crisis of authority felt by a Lut·h er 1o r a
Ttuha ~l reM· o r~ to ~o_nathan Swift's satirical Battle of the Books. I~ the mte lee-
le . . aim this cns1s translated into a debate about the foundat10ns and very
d'gf;timacy of knowledge. What was the relationship of things to words? Put
1 erently , h ow could knowledge acquired through the senses be 1e g1· t1· mate d
1
4 PROLOGUE E v o c A T I o N 5 to compete with a
but instead had
and what was its relation to discursive and deductive knowledge? These ques . ·mator of truth, . as
tions were part of a cultural change by which a world view founded in texts and position as the sole legitl rsuits. . hasis on practice w
tmhea nmipaunliaptuiolant ioofn t ohifn wgos.r ds was replaced by one based in natural objects and thhe numCobnenr eocft eodth teor t hinet reilslee cotfutahliysuhn e wkJho'~lolesdogpeh oyf a hnudm itasn e maf~p.' :, ~~·t mwaecsh manaincisf"e satneddf
emTehrgise ndceeb oatfe a caobnoturto vweorsrdiasl "annedw t hpihnigloss owpahsy "p laanyde dit so "unte win mtheeth owda ko~e poh~i lot ~e am. g mreaactehri ni. mesp, otreteah n mc.e c ag1 i· vp erno cteosts ees , an adrt thpero kvni' odw e d J e ad gme oo d de 1 r pfo wr itthhe thaed vnaen w c ep hoi.-
ophizing." The proponents of this new philosophy claimed that, unhke their artisans. The progress o f human ro ress became boun i uh t be practi·c e d by. an
predecessors, they dealt with visible, tangible, material things (and we shall see knowledge, and technology an~! n!ural philosophy me; what his education,
it is significant that these things often had a commercially determinable value). losophy. While some asserted t his eyes open, no matt Thus the advent of the
Athcatni vae s erat tohfe trh tehoarnie cs,o nantedm itp fllaotuivries,h tehdi si nn seuwc hp phlialocseos pahs yl awboarsa ato prireasc,t tihcee,a treartsh oerf aortthiesarsn troire db yto alnimyoi.t n nea wtuhrao1 kP eh pilto soops hsyi btoil itthiees.g efonrt lem· md ai'v~ id · uead l st hwemho. tdoi dc anllo tt h.h e a mve-f
nature, and cabinets of curiosities. The practitioners of the new philosop~y new philosophy both opened ~p: that would hav~ al:~ormation of an eht~ o
tmhaigt hitt dhiaspdu ttoe idtso pwreicthis e" tmhientghso"d: otlhoeg yc oanllde cittiso lnim oifts t,h binugt sth, etyh ek noebwse frovra t~1e0rnt aomf asne lvinetse lnesairvnee dte m•x t-tbh a es Oe Idd esdtyulce.a ' tdalno t d rdesisutlatnedce a st h we emll s emlvte sfe fthroem m rouddeer nms ec0h vaemr cth se.
things, and material, visual demonstration by use of things in place of the natural philosophers who tne t~ated the progress o that neither theory n~r
logical demonstration by means of words. Human art not only demonsfve of things in a w~y d to involve not on y
This new method did not storm the citadels of knowledge, but slowly trans ancients, but it was also proTdhuc niew philosophy cla1mTehus the rise of the newl
formed habits of practice and thought as it became useful to a growing numb~r practi. ce had been b ecio r e · eb as producti·v e as .a rt. . the' scheme Of knowh •
of individuals and groups, as scholarly alliances formed around it, and as it theory and practice, but also to e tal reorganization m en what had been tde
provided more satisfying explanations within the new "materialistic" episte philosophy brought on a fundamedn the boundan·e s betweth e difference that h.a
mgroaldougayl.l yI ti nwcaosr ppoartartoendi zinetdo bayn ceoduurctast,i oinnsatli tcuutirorincaulliuzemd tihna tt hhea da cbaedeenm biaesse,~ a_nodn esedpgaer. aTteh ree nalemws pohfi- 1toh s eoop rhy y' Pbr.l aucr tr'iec ed , manadn iaprut,l aatsi·.o w n eol lf wfa so rdas tiaonnd othfet h pe r ore dluactti.1o don'n -_
the mastery of a corpus of words and texts. We can see this momentoftransit10n existed between the pr~ductlt t:s story of t~e trans h~cted as an inter~e ;e
at which old and new interpenetrated in a description of the "new" method and manipulation of thmg~. n Johann Joach1m_Bec and that of scholars~m
,l pursued at the Julian Academy at Helmstedt: first, the phenomena are observed; ship between words and thmgs, the world of arti~a~sllectual-betweenh t~der~
second, their construction is noted; and, third, they are subjected to demon ary. Himself halfway ~etwee; th physical and mbe tween linking the o
becomes an intermediary- 0 lso became a go- e d
stratio from certain principles. Subject headings in the account are Aristotelian: . f ed h e a 1 I mo ern
"De corpore," "De motu," "De vacuo," "De elementis" (water, earth, air, and Like many others of his im the territorial r~ _er. history of the ear y ted his
fire), "De meteoris," "De animalibus," and so on. In contrast, the text under of productive knowledge an b ut the pohtical he circumven f
these headings exemplifies the new: "De corpore" contains microscopic obser Becher's life tells us as w ell .a core ased hi.s own pow·toerry, Because th e cost coe
vations of objects such as flour and sugar. "De motu" concerns machines, while period. As the territori~l rulerh: revenues of the te;r~an ~o look to com~e~ad
"De elementis" contains a section on a transmutation of iron into copper, and local nobility and its gnp on t the territorial lords e Although merchan s did
"De animalibus" lists the animals-stuffed and preserved-that have been ma.m ta.m m. g power m· e reased ' source o f re venube'.J 'ty noblesth e mselves and
collected by the academy. The last two subjects-"De visu" and "De auditu" and the "empire of thm· gs," ass ana d taxes for thenO Tih ie b, asis of thei·~ p 0dw oenr the
run through an assortment of instruments and their use.' Similar examples of always been a source of loan mercial economy. d an economy baseh . only
this melange of old and new could be drawn from the Royal Society, the not acti. vely take part m· th. e cfeoumd al relations 11 ·i p s. ann eed for cash wr oug otnis l and,
Academie des sciences, the Academia naturae curiosorum, or the numerous their code of values lay m nsforrnation this ·an society based etary
collections and laboratories of new philosophers and princes all over Europe. natural frui.t s of the 1a n d · The tra hange from an agran commerce an d mond ieval
Becher's explication and adaptation of the new philosophy illuminates this fluid one part of the very long, slow ~o a society based h~\ began in late m~heless
cultural moment when "science" had not yet achieved its preeminent modern agriculture, and gift exchan~; transform_ation, ~I ~:volution, w_as ~o~:flected
1 exchange. Such a process d until the mdustna Such resha?mg is he used
Johann Andreas Schmidi, Theatrum Naturae et Artis. Singulis semestribus novis machinis & society and was not complete nteenth century. an Empire, for
Wexpoelfrgimanegnutsis- Hauamgeinuds uAmc aind .A Tcaydpeomgri.a, Jcual.i a1 7c1u0ri)o. sis B .C.D. pandet /.A.S.D. (Helmstedt: Georgus rm. ad Biceacllhye rr'ess haacpti.e vdi.t i.de us n.an tg t hthee csoeuvret s of the H 0 ly Rom
6 PROLOGUE EVOCATION 7 .
cacacnmtt"BfmmoasshcamcpcmtaaAtstmrhvnhro ecoroieohhaoednrsiauinaoeiaasoeaeeasrtrsaet emtmtIeeuascur jdBdsiec lwtnmaud t ncnstnnucrc cvteucugrtii chkh otemhyrm i-eeyheohto dt thimehoirsehmaseoae:nepidevadfctian aatani ra ecsoutelietln dnxh arnoc hneer lnaaneea na,fa ipnrrra'wg btitndpeoad wdmieesinwsc biisotcclfsiptrraasr yctcdr b "c nr dfs hi coisi awde.lhslmopcbaaoate iaa a aoba e cte eiau chrcca isohi nr,cmhleulnlallatcrefadHi h nsltdu co gp c wiieudrdfiystnoieai t ahvntaigwsdtibnlui uec tacsei rshoeisi dpsstrc r oeabeineh oonegtsrvt mai ttiomortest utvf.eil et aephsefcgiseisomdt iimi tuo r pcslanntt st n eets asmb,iesrAat lrtihhi eun tlahatn,etoedc n itteveg gkeuha heheapsegeuaknsd ntpmydadtj.dut is aeroiehvse is e ebtru dsee.nsnl m err is vcnro o eopeaBfi octlanwo iele pa,dusanoooH eim aic linb jntaobemybsp tntzhesu hdnaest utneowoBretovud rooiimhueweg cma ylcoc akutdradaslnm tioul lt i dbejehieti rtlsclo astrytl t hostsedotabsl tdafedshpc uishlkehiomtlpywalt a .n icki rwoe chtl udhei ocace rteafeuncs howiuyaittethynnee'h fmth taeas tgB auo asrwyw kr ftye o egdo soisitrtcerln rletcaore sktnormiei b ast ee uefe iorefmli on ncoeianfbh-aboacuno ndloaocafe slincrorunsanitdndmc relauh icfdonlewdnt,nouittnredsttoftlcdt ahst dahrtciediw hee a mtistmct lwht-e.lavtaBa ns nvuaee hrefn o f eeucothhdieldldliaa'gn io o,sorrieatH esod soreonfiot t ta the lkessesd p sartwryt fchB hbbdgcmtgnct louf ,.ehirmcn lt lh ula, hea hsypliegkoo iae nea a bfeeoscemcnmest frsep erf a e ncn cc h f suoepeh i howidtormmrmhamsna "neetahgoantehec acra'iuf iavprccpis nnldohtsaran eweovoaomha niaolrsiepeiotch crtcd ctbicocrncitintd um fstoddtrhstorelffeet e tyaatu thls h oeuie earfi iwhrg,iepiaedrta.dshale koecmoite mcedicodcs hesi ane cta ulia nsaanpncameerie tfa ings ectIi n h npaiscn tthooddsiah oa x o ba e aiucac ttd niitstt cnelnuie wnkywfhpwhals esfr"ainiooil b m coeev pnntdrv ttt pnreledmtntdtuafltioirhur troogcohfhtgag oe hotose de.t oyersm tes rh oiawo ueldwia " natardetswha ,vtae Htvs afr ipt ym tan eese i rapegs ie,a eieotrihwtaLlcusnrkt ,ptlBd ib tteecnotieranerh ma hsinhiuiowiidconat r,uoshanisgt snlde sisce tdo orrtuea 'sanno nsttoeahhac f accwkigueii e hnnnl tfrmundtos twrtnakni ioho .trsed.aotdo repctoti smaon n " eries. oetmoi a olu rri cfmvwltcnbh hAmaa.dw fehkoiarmtiaehodB deaBahandclilt au m'edSloin"snasefdssue un apletroe l e meosregt o h t ro e eisthcrdrteptsoma cu inmcppalehfrke har neoclcweoiot rrdrp hu h raictgcaase.lrac naoaco ho ifnaynt f o tleaet tloessst anocnnpeo w nniiejui teshm r trltFttmftrtsnemtvohdm , orrwotitdaerodr huiit ur erce.oiroianimeysieehwItvnaf,a argnedapzuptrnmltem ncm c , ainatdbsese raepheceegam w.geehaaachrayt. t sd eielBp ydeosta g se isnlnuclelgwail,aooevoerg o ilTintyc."ss aaleodmlddncatyoct inreffeienef il t,styycchtn cHer iaitot uesy tli sttoha tnichei htto hnufidn hh hnorheo oooathhitnaataow soiaeiapogsdiesieoe deannnfnfsefetltlst r l,rf tcmdataaoaRndgtkEahtphowhhthr1neifhc·dnntscoAfbiaS2afhoon nneioarhoruiefoucmaa hmn4 aido oinitrTsoouamgodmr l utahose ndmlmnmudtuta C t 2 irggli(Ksvipmsta d nuhw hwk Joitt g s.nrl1tirwbssehnho iIao aail.iadisnesidnmee9nnni.tnm ed na aawlroneneNnAnunn bo m.s 8 ioea e to oreaorab ae stereAw tea hs6sf ue wi.trdtPov aal,swhtEk sds of.mwrtnre) tne is sa,l Bt tt ettagr:owaeta aoTlo oei ihr deomti gwu rmlptfthteenstnedietrarma mhanhrrn1etihuoii wunrnniu.raenog igsrl egnenorpnt-d oelnwenmbredi cea eid ahpmt a2gluy f ndFgailH a pglne w. lywn mdeng ni8d rfegp owaor oant2,mv..mosoeor uoc:e ,d h.a o s da o rllorb niow dpe eig r"agtdwi cIfteeas tltd o ImNgertwehse T eu.rn cothh1es ~eb nordi owspd e~e tteeeca~rd ectno h siio e tolahe1d, sitnn .rr.hts1sphtIbu rtt res el- eh stmfehit inovehiao .. teos sreo_aahlnon tnM t1svdentsKpctt e ho dt,aoooneIpns ohpf et b euhg , g u ea•oa Prtbdaec• ues m t A ossrdtdt e ath h eOWposr,,rtsmcomuau, rnoseuieclb• s thit ee m ehaers odde1 w pbtmoelsih wdh d1.icWt a tae·iO al hm sna1m 1 t1neu·tdo e·ul.pk nd teff , uuleeImmh 'ao·se n oe fa t1Idn ~a o ' ico atrr1s gWmie cvt. n . m· tidgne·"s ~dc ysc b noan soehs ,rn akeharrsthW me s sha n, a.r ,uet ybea~dc an va !traa '.e d, nieocsaEP1ho poe ts'dlh ndsaet·o nM aet he . ~a o1t eu~s: trv danh bM sfiu1aee 1i s1.d a'.a wtoio nrntd .r ' v.d io5t :~ag.a1s e .om! rnnot ihie .ee i.1gw' rN u '1 :h 1aneo 1d e vo .lr 1dan! gw al tw i1 '7I·00: na p1 c·saroeaid tnm -pieg. .a/ ,w n- 1 e7r o~fAveu s'nahat tt 1'tl hh l e toneh driipi mi lu'1,.E ast .aws1~aaptaorn ~ aov fl o sllcoeraa se 7Dm11gnt lnaaun o:or~l ntlany·ee doi d3rrilraa ncpesrr .Itl · otw:n intd I, ,0psh tunPeoCatd!u es ciog turchr y md i non m" n icahh ru hocseocsfuceh u nufe.ai v wdsc1a,ofu c'ti.in(nto mt1rnbedgssu sdCele n nld epPihtu·edartrflott cgtmerep neu houhmnte tmenpoeu phue eao rst ehh bmruetr.stdc entrsohlres,arrlror robaedfi ·oD taaoety srop Mtiteoosetesa tuiI cht t nleieeoanmtt oeclIno t,c tsedn ec1dowtimf ayw aeerhrrho f yt n11 dknipifnts d c s.uncnenuo'.f'~ar e•1s.a e u e ocf " , iat o'a1m.i h sthtoi pktac r~n dPr Lln1 e rshsiromena'ea npa r mnt sate.ariiaciraka daT·mntnehkt rts r i,fdzlr e.nopn rn:ltuhid iedvr thl ipt euaa a lRee racct ighsaredasa k wotedaJy tee amripst.taunthssh ochoo lnHe d rtuo n oue fI a ta hJ nr e~eacnhtocpeam .iid iim tgtpcadtPnodrno ~ne toe h nmsonsithhhma src.nfha aeMh e.uuYaw eau1ln dds eo.1tanstee n .reio.t 1eic?t mIi.llipv u1 cn .s z uWged. l nea.yl x hrH gtliVl · at e o, cee rtetcdwwraaelmhneocgTu.cke, ie.u p a oips'vo1ua ! .a,c oet tddi daeo.s'cpafo p hef vfntoelht'aceo N,I tdcyyncn:.tha dg hipnyak ~~ra me u~ e ts ar by d1 cr to'eu yL., hciite ncs. cI I u5 d nmtwsJvte~aels~a y1 date.1a a wcoa;t.ielsi's 1· e T~ndsend t n ,q(~ce s 1py te ; 0a" aut; a I'1Ye. hUdg isa c rw~rochuTup f o oo: twsn vdn pHlraeu d/eoeta au'dem eefornm if;hrho c fia eird.l t Fsee·aao· m.u~ ~t s kntp g :s vso ep etrt f,~yid orlber Tfpotraoectelaeoe if r G rb uctli h yua pcny ort rtnrhco teontc dta'bhua n·yy5hh·r ne~1e r~ei g'o fn1fhtri1 e dd·I dadnis yoneeo1e R d aynhnovpesamd s~dda nnpa ·ynw, u nluafg wr •efr l go wiar d ,tero TeS 1ita ~ocsted oHftcia actrqh;ae · coomn·itger.em 1f _fr toa wmiottutatnduo1 twnroaoiduahrc9oorua1Ii·.habi tuscnen s tmosvnc~8en a9mreecehleleonvra nlii oatlhld8-ty-mnmd8egdneah,yttrgsrycoeds etnhs f· -9 )- e,e l :f · '
8 PROLOGUE EVOCATION 9 .
. h' f the artisan to his matenal
offspring of this unnatural activity was money. Money was considered unnatu sci· ence, alchemy could i·1 1 umm· a, te the rel.a tionhs 1Ph Oo lar a language m· wh ich to
ral because it was a means of exchange that did not contain the seeds of its own
and the productive process, as well as give the sc thus became the vehicle by
regeneration. It was a means and not a fruit of labor. Money and commerce did • · d ocess Ale emy · , The
talk about this relat10nsh1p an pr · d t' and material mcre<1se.
not imitate productive nature, as agriculture and guild society did. Yet this which Becher spoke to the court a bout pro uc ·1t0 11 to the discuss1·0 n °f co m-
barren, parasitical, and unnatural activity paradoxically provided surplus · J Jy well sm ecI ·d ed
language of alchemy was part1cu ar t of metals-provt .
wealth-wealth that formed a source of power as great as the violence of arms . , · -the ennob Ie men • , Tl 1s
merce, for alchemical transmutation d h roduction of surplus. .1
and the force of noble rank. Merchants, while dangerous to the community · J · crease an t e P · which
an example of fabulous matena m f h mical transmutation, .
because they were consuming, rather than producing, members of society, 1
Was especially true in Becher's theory ~ a c etals took place by means of
seemed nevertheless to hold a key to material increase. . . · °f prec10u.s me ' . h p·1ss
postulated that the mult1phcatton ti'vity withm t e com '
J vtrtuous ac Ch t r
consumption. Alchemy was thus a natura ' , t the noble court. ap e
of human art and an accepted ac ti.v t· ty and langdu ageh ae my as such a Ia ngr u,a ge of
' . h use a1 c ' · ·
4 makes clear the manner in which Bee edr tinues this theme by exammmgd
Chapter 1 explores the background from which Becher fashioned his own . . d Interlu econ . f Jchemy an
matenal mcrcase, and the secon The conflation o a
identity and drew his principal ideas. It argues that he was attuned to a view of
Becher's plan for an alchemical laborato~y. oment in the creation of the
the city as a center of human production and the reproduction of productive formative m f · d stry for
politics in this plan reveals a trans . the significance o m u
techniques, as well as to the possibilities of commerce and mobility. Becher persona of the natural phi.l osop h er, as, well as 111 .
brought the results of his experience to the court world, and offered the court a
the actions of the territorial ruler. . f"orm Becher became an mter-
solution to its need to create surplus wealth. His scheme combined the structure In attempting to carry throug h t h't s matenaf 1 r er educt' ive know le d ge, at tempt-
of the guild city and its "material knowledge" of human art and production with . d the bearers o P . d r the contro 1
mediary between the court an d ctive potential un e . . d d
the surplus-creating capabilities of commerce. In seeking to implement his
ing to bring their skills, knowledge, an~ pro _uct and a group of hke-mmh_e
plan, he had to find a coherent structure that would combine the guild town, as a of the prince. He was not a Io ne i·n this phr' oJe. ,e , alternately asst·s fm g and m. h-
actetnratecrt ivoef htou mthaen c poruordt.u ction, with the commercial world, in order to make it i· ndi. vi. duals accompam.e d hi•m th ro ughout ts .1 11' , , these men wh O co llude. d wit
h t r 5 exammes the mterest
dering his schemes at court. C ap ~ It particularly focuses on . . t the
To achieve this, Becher drew on his knowledge of the mechanical arts and
Becher on his travels and in his intng_ue_s. B cher and attempts to pmpom_ f
of medical chemistry and alchemy. The mechanical arts-the province of the • . L 'bmz m e ' mon basis o
evinced by Gottfried Wilhelm et h as well as the com h
guilds-represented productive knowledge to Becher, and he attempted to . . with Bee er, . Like Bee er,
source of Leibniz's fascmation . h . shared world view. d
capture not only the skills of individual artisans but also the productive knowl . f n m t e1r t wn wa 11 s an
edge they possessed; indeed he sought the very material understanding by the_ir habits of thought an~ ac_ JO. . duals resided outside the o . , I world and
rnd1
Leibniz and the other mobile vi d standing of the matena . t n-
which the artisan transformed raw materials into valuable goods. To express . g an un er ' duct1ve po e
sought positions at court, pursum I k1'ng to capture the pro h t,·sans
this artisanal understanding, Becher sought to formulate an unornamented f . Tl were oo d e of t e ar
"material discourse" and a method of cognition that captured the technique o the process of creat10n. 1ey h 'qties and know 1e g 'Id t° w ns ·
h·a ! of art thereby transporti·n g the tee .m the guilds an d the gu1 d c
and knowledge of the artisan. Chapter 2 treats the period during which Becher ' • J t chmques, · J repro u -
outside that incubator of art1sana e d"f . g the method of a:usana der in
established himself at court as medicu s and mathematicu s, and began to for
nd
mulate this material understanding of knowledge and reform. Chapter 3 ~y capturing their techniques a _c~ ~[u1~ure and ushered m a ;eww~: taken
hon, this group destroyed the gm! s d ction of that knowle ge
shows how Becher sought to draw material, productive knowledge, embodied . d the repro u f the state.
Which productive knowledge an 'thin the sphere 0
in commerce, into the world of his noble patrons, while the first Interlude, in
outside the artisanal world and brought wi
recounting a single episode, illustrates Becher's use of natural philosophy in
attempting to integrate commercial values into the court world.
Alchemy and chemistry provided Becher with a language by which to repre . . . . d" "dual we must
·, fan m iv, ' •
sent the processes of natural creation and regeneration, and the means by which · n in the I11e O • in an indt-
In telling the story of this transfor~at10! 'dentity-both its crc~t10n ·ct11re of
these processes could be imitated by the hu.man hand. Becher's chemical and . °f · d'1v 1dua 1 f' mg a pt
alchemical works were directed toward gaining knowledge about the creative deal with the configuratton m . bl the historian. In orn:i If and those
Vi dual 's lifetime and its refonn~ilatwn those he told about htmse
principles of nature and imitating them by human art. Being both art and
Becher's identity out of the stones he le '