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Alchimie et paracelsisme en France la

fin de la Renaissance (15671625)
Victor D. Boantza

Department of History , McGill University , Leacock Building,

855 Sherbrooke Street West, Montral , QC , H3A 2T7 , Canada
Published online: 04 Oct 2011.

To cite this article: Victor D. Boantza (2012) Alchimie et paracelsisme en France la fin de la
Renaissance (15671625), Annals of Science, 69:1, 142-145, DOI: 10.1080/00033790902981239
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00033790902981239

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Book Reviews

he was involved in the founding and/or development of various institutions and

projects, including the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard, the Lowell Institute in
Boston, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Sciences, a projected National
University at Albany in the early 1850s and the purchase by the United States of
Alaska from Russia in the late 1860s.
While not a political figure, Peirce held opinions on major movements of his time.
Perhaps the most striking example is that of slavery*Who ever heard of a nigger
mathematician? He might do for a black board, opined this fervent Christian in 1860
(p. 211). He even entertained the possibility of moving to a Southern university.
The biography begins with a spectacular episode in 1847 when Peirce correctly
queried Leverriers prediction of the orbit of Neptune. Thereafter, the account is
pretty strictly chronological, literally from birth to death. The final chapter reviews
his notable sons, of whom the second, Charles Saunders (sic), has come to dominate
historical interest in the family. The book is adorned with portraits of the Peirces and
of many of his leading scientific colleagues; some pictures have reproduced rather
darkly.
There have been some historical articles on Benjamin Peirce; all of them seem to
be cited in the end notes, which also cite the many manuscript and published sources
that the author has consulted. The text itself contains many quotations, maybe a little
to excess since the level of interest of the texts is variable. A somewhat more distanced
and broader account of Peirces career is available; between them these two works
place him firmly on the historical record.1
IVOR GRATTAN-GUINNESS, Middlesex University Business School, The Burroughs,
Hendon, London NW4 4BT, UK. Email: eb7io6gg@waitrose.com

History of Chemistry and Alchemy

DIDIER KAHN, Alchimie et paracelsisme en France a` la fin de la Renaissance (1567
1625). Cahiers dHumanisme et Renaissance, 80. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 2007.
x
806 pp. apps. tbls. bibl. index. $108. ISBN-13 978-2-600-00688-0.
Didier Kahns Alchimie et paracelsisme en France a` la fin de la Renaissance (1567
1625) is an authentic tour de force of erudition and insight into the multifaceted
history of Paracelsianism and its relationship to alchemy in France at the end of the
Renaissance. Although the study begins by briefly exploring alchemical works of the
fifteenth and early sixteenth century, Kahns focal chronological demarcation, as
indicated in the title, is suggestive of his overall concept. The year 1567 saw the
simultaneous appearance of no less than thirteen works on alchemical and Paracelsian
subjects, in both French and Latin, in France, Antwerp, Zurich and Cologne,
comprising the first public introduction of Paracelsian doctrines in France. Paying
homage to Lynn Thorndikes famous phrase Kahn suggests considering 1567 as a
1
D. Kent, Benjamin Peirce and the Promotion of Research-Level Mathematics in America:
18301880, Doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, 2005

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143

striking instance of a Paracelsian Revival of sorts, especially in the French context

(pp. 30, 137). Set at the other side of the chronological spectrum, the year 1625 marks
a crisis in French alchemy and Paracelsianism, which was generated by preceding
debates over the legitimacy of alchemy, culminating in the Sorbonnes censorship of
Henrich Khunraths 1595 influential Amphitheatrum Sapienti tern (p. 31).
Paracelsus published little during his lifetime and the key role of the history of the
book in Kahns analysis is made clear early on, especially in reference to the
proliferation of translations, editions and publications of Paracelsuss oeuvres, which
began in various parts of Europe during the 1560s. Paracelsianism as a thought
movement, Kahn states, must be therefore considered at once as the cause and the
consequence of this immense editorial effort (p. 13). The goal of this study is an
ambitious one: to examine Paracelsianism and alchemy in order to reconstruct a
chapter in French cultural history, one that fashioned the spirit of a whole epoch; a
subject the understanding of which is aptly deemed as indispensable for a full
appreciation of the rich as well as the contradictory character of the late Renaissance
(p. 4). Kahn admirably fulfils this lofty ambition, furnishing us with a trove of
thoughtfully gathered and assembled information. Based on a remarkably comprehensive exploration of both primary and secondary materials, Kahns dense narrative offers
a highly learned answer to some of the key questions behind his bio-bibliographic
approach to the French Paracelsian alchemists*Who were they? How did they live?
What was their place in the society and intellectual world of their time? (p. 29).
The book consists of an introduction, four main chapters, and a detailed and
useful bibliography (close to 150 pages). The introduction surveys in a concise and
informative manner the state of scholarship on the subject, touching on some of the
longstanding historiographical and methodological difficulties. Kahn recognizes the
difficulty in characterizing Paracelsianism beyond speaking of a great stream of
ideas, which had originated in the thought of Paracelsus (p. 11). And he equally
admits that it is ultimately easier to say what [alchemy] is not (p. 7). The complex
origins and challenging historical manifestations of these subjects notwithstanding,
Kahn faults previous studies for their lack of rigour, for their oversight of significant
scholarly contributions (by, for example, Willis Bowen, Euge`ne Olivier, Wallace
Kirsop, Franc ois Secret, Robert Halleux, and others). Kahns book represents a prime
instance of comprehensiveness, drawing on the authors extensive survey of sources in
French, Latin, German, English, and Italian. The resulting analysis far surpasses in
both scope and embrace its closest scholarly precursor, Alan Debuss pioneering The
French Paracelsians (1993), although the latters The Chemical Philosophy (1977) still
remains the single best introductory text to the history of early modern European
chemical thought. Although Kahn acknowledges the great complexity of the
background against which European Paracelsianism should be evaluated, he indicates
that in the late Renaissance French context, the subject was most closely informed by
Paracelsuss views on natural philosophy, medicine, alchemy, magic and astrology (p.
12). Nevertheless, this volume is not concerned with the practical aspects of alchemy
and Paracelsianism, in the vein represented, for instance, by the influential works of
William Newman and Lawrence Principe, who have deftly examined the alchemical
works of George Starkey, Robert Boyle, Daniel Sennert, Van Helmont, and the
relations between chymistry and the Scientific Revolution. Kahns approach resembles
most closely that of a history of ideas; and the study is dedicated, in an important
sense, to the establishment of an accurate chronology of the reception of alchemy and
Paracelsianism in France, focusing on relevant publications, their circumstances and

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the milieus of their respective authors. Two additional forthcoming volumes by Kahn
will treat related and complementary issues, as suggested by their titles: Cercles
alchimiques et me ce nat princier en France au temps des guerres de religion and Science,
religion et litte rature dans la France alchimique de la fin de la Renaissance.
The first chapter reviews the landmarks of alchemical publications in Europe
from their first appearance in the late fifteenth century and into the first half of the
sixteenth-century, a period which coincides closely with Paracelsuss own life (1493
1541). The chapter traces the influence of three late medieval alchemical
authorities*pseudo-Geber, pseudo-Raymond Lull, and Johannes of Rupescissa*
throughout early sixteenth-century major alchemical treatises. Three main alchemical
preoccupations, arising from the writings of these authors are identified: medical,
technical-metallurgical and transmutational (pp. 5562). In addition to the medieval
legacy, Kahn discusses the influence of three other*distinctly Renaissance*
influences, evident in publications of the first half of the sixteenth century: Christian
Kabbalah, Ficinian animism and alchemical interpretations of ancient mythologies,
such as the French anonymous poem Garnd Olympe (c.1532), an extensive alchemical
reading of Ovids Metamorphoses (pp. 6368).
The second chapter carries the examination into the second half of the sixteenth
century, a period which saw the first editions of Paracelsuss Oeuvres, culminating
with Husers edition of Paracelsuss medical and natural philosophical writings, the
Bu cher und Schrifften (15891591). A detailed section is dedicated to the editorial
work of Lazare Zetzner of Strasbourg (15821616), a bibliophile who personally
oversaw the publication of the first four volumes of the Theatrum Chemicum (1602
1613; fifth volume published in 1622). It is only in the final section of the second
chapter, entitled Paracelsisme et alchemie en France en 1567, that Kahn reaches his
primary subject matter (p. 137). The rest of the chapter introduces two major
Paracelsians pioneers, Ge rard Dorn and Jacques Gohory, whose contributions
continued well into the next decades.
The third chapter follows French Paracelsian publications against the backdrop
of major disputes from 1568 to 1594. The beginning of this period, the early 1570s, is
marked by the appearance of numerous editions and translations of Paracelsuss
seminal Archidoxes. Several interlinked debates between Joseph Du Chesne and antiParacelsians like Jacques Aubert (and his followers) are treated next. The second part
of the chapter is dedicated to an equally influential Paracelsian, Roch Le Baillif
(c.15401598). The Galenic-oriented Parisian Medical Facultys attack on Le Baillif
in the late 1570s, leading to his trial, is examined in detail, illustrating vividly the
controversial status of Paracelsian alchemy and medicine at the time.
The fourth and longest chapter studies major controversies over Paracelsianism,
and especially its alchemical dimensions, during the first two decades of the
seventeenth century. Among the subjects treated are Du Chesnes confrontations
with the Parisian Medical Faculty and the interventions of his fellow Huguenot (and
public medical authority) Turquet de Mayern; the latters alchemical views; and the
anti-alchemical polemics of Nicolas Guibert. The second part of the chapter deals
with one of Kanhs longstanding research interests, as he refers to it elsewhere, The
Rosicrucian Hoax in France (16231624).1 Paying due homage to the important
1
See, W. Newman and A. Grafton (eds), Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern
Europe (Massachusetts, 2001), 235344.

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145

work of Carlos Gilly on the Rosicrucian movement Kahn discusses the 1623
incident of the Rose-Cross Placards in Paris and its repercussions. This section is not
unlike Kahns 2001 English article, as both pieces originate (as does this whole
volume) in his 1998 doctoral dissertation. Making nonetheless for an essential part
of the greater narrative, it deserves to be included. The next controversy treated
revolves around the 1624 (ultimately censured) fourteen theses of Antoin de Villon
tienne de Clave, which advertised an intended refutation of both Aristotelian
and E
and Paracelsian matter theories. The volume ends with an examination of the
circumstances that brought about the Sorbonnes censorship of Kunrath, whom
Kahn designates as le hibou e missaire in reference to a plate found in the
Amphitheatrum, showing a bespectacled owl standing between two lit candles; the
caption beneath reads: which is a better torchlight, light or spectacles, when the
people do not want to see? (p. 568).
Kahn takes a fresh and captivating look at French alchemy and Paracelsianism
and their historical implications to the understanding of various late Renaissance
cultural features such as religious heterodoxy or the tension between anciennete and
modernity. This book is dense, yet Kahns voice leads the reader through its density
towards a whole new way of experiencing this complicated subject. This book is a
must-read for students of early modern alchemy; it should be of interest to early
modern scholars in general and to anyone interested in the interactions between
science, religion, and society in early modern Europe.
VICTOR D. BOANTZA, Department of History, Leacock Building,
McGill University, 855 Sherbrooke Street West, Montre al, QC, H3A 2T7, Canada.
boantza@gmail.com

Editions and Selections

GEORGES-LOUIS LECLERC DE BUFFON, Oeuvres comple`tes. Edited by Ste phane
Schmitt (with the assistance of Ce dric Cre mie`re). 3 vols to date. Paris: Honore
Champion, 20072009. 1367 pp.; 805 pp.; 767 pp. t205.00; t130.00; t120.00. ISBN
978-2-7453-1601-1; 978-2-7453-1729-2; 978-2-7453-1730-8.
For the first time in more than a hundred years, an annotated edition of the eighteenthcentury French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffons complete works is being
produced. This review examines the first three volumes of Buffons Oeuvres comple`tes,
a collection projected to reach 36 volumes at an unspecified date in the future, in
conformity with the masterwork with which Buffon is associated, the Histoire
naturelle, ge ne rale et particulie`re, avec la description du Cabinet du Roi (17491789).
The concept of complete works is a little anomalous with respect to Buffon. First,
his publications were largely subsumed under a single title, the Histoire naturelle. He
did publish shorter texts, notably introductions to translations and articles for
the Acade mie Royale des Sciences, but the latter were revised and reprinted in the
Supple ment (17741789), a later sub-series of the Histoire naturelle. Consequently,
when the first version (17701789) of Buffons Oeuvres comple`tes was issued during
his lifetime, it too was similar to extant editions of the Histoire naturelle. Second, the