Alchemy and the Alchemists

Book excerpt: In this facsimile reprint of the original 1857 edition, the choice findings of such early writers as Basil Valentine, Thomas Vaughan, Raymond Lully, and Nicholas Flamel are analyzed and interpreted by the grandson of Ethan Allen, who was a personal friend and military advisor to President Lincoln. The original title page reads: "Remarks upon Alchemy and the Alchemists, indicating a method of discovering the true nature of Hermetic Philosophy; and showing that the search after the Philosopher's Stone had not for its object the discovery of an agent for the Transmutation of Metals. Being also an attempt to rescue from undeserved opprobrium the reputation of a class of Extraordinary Thinkers in Past Ages." This work is a valuable source for the study of man's spiritual integration and the contributions of prominent Rosicrucian mystics.