| Moderated by: alchemyd | ||
| Author | Post | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paul Ferguson Member 
|
I understand that the diary of the Baal Shem of London, a.k.a. Rabbi Dr. Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk or Doctor Falckon, is in the United Synagogue Beth HaMidrash Library in London. Falk had an alchemical laboratory in a house on London Bridge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal_Shem_of_London Questions: 1. Has anyone here inspected this diary? 2. What language(s) is it in? 3. Does it have any alchemical content? Thanks in advance, Paul Last edited on Sat Feb 6th, 2010 07:00 pm by Paul Ferguson |
|||||||||
|
adammclean Member 
|
Marsha Keith Schuchard, an American academic has researched Falk in some detail. She wrote an article for the Autumn 1987 issue of my Hermetic Journal :- Schuchard, Marsha Keith. Yeats and the Unknown Superiors: Swedenborg, Falk, and Cagliostro. She did send me some further material on this theme in the 1990s, but I expect this was published elsewhere. |
|||||||||
|
Paul Ferguson Member
|
Hi Adam, Thanks for the Schuchard reference. It turns out that Falk's diary has also been extensively studied by Michal Oron, see page 243 of: http://books.google.com/books?id=6UWycTtUF94C&pg=PP1&dq=%22chemul+falk%22&lr=#v=onepage&q=%22chemul%20falk%22&f=false Apparently the diary consists of 59 pages written in 'poor and halting' Hebrew. Here is Brian Talbot's riposte to Martha Schuchard: http://www.newphilosophyonline.org/journal/data/110b/Talbot_Article--New_Philosophy_July-December_2007.pdf Last edited on Sun Feb 7th, 2010 03:50 pm by Paul Ferguson |
|||||||||
|
adammclean Member
|
Paul Ferguson wrote: Here is Brian Talbot's riposte to Martha Schuchard: Quite a devastating critique ! |
|||||||||
|
Paul Ferguson Member
|
I see Michal has edited and published the diaries: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rabbi-Mystic-Impostor-Eighteenth-Century-London/dp/1904113036 Published just a few days ago!!! For the record, Michal has also written a biography of Falk in Hebrew: http://www.eisenbrauns.com/item/OROSAMUEL I think the English-language book is very closely based on this. Some interesting trivia about Falk here, including the fact that his descendants apparently include Lottie Collins of Ta-ra-ra-BOOM-dee-ay fame: http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2009/03/cecil-roths-eltere-zeide-in-law-londons.html Last edited on Mon Feb 8th, 2010 12:29 pm by Paul Ferguson |
|||||||||
|
Paul Ferguson Member
|
[Post deleted by author] Last edited on Wed May 19th, 2010 04:53 pm by Paul Ferguson |
|||||||||
|
Paul Ferguson Member
|
1903 paper about the Baal Shem of London here by the then Chief Rabbi of Britain with some passing references to Dr. Falck's alchemical activities: http://www.jhse.org/book/export/article/12206 |
|||||||||
|
Paul Ferguson Member
|
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03058034.2020.1822112 "Michal Oron, who has dedicated much of her career to investigating Falk and his writings, published a biography and edited version of his diary in Hebrew in 2002, doing much to tame a disparate and complex series of manuscripts into something legible. This present work represents the translation of Michal Oron’s work into English (by Edward Levin), along with a new introduction by Todd M. Endelman." https://www.amazon.com/Rabbi-Mystic-Impostor-Eighteenth-Century-London/dp/1904113036 |
|||||||||