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Leigh Penman Member
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Hello all, once again I beg for illumination! Does anybody know of any studies that discuss alchemy and madness/ mental illness? With all those fumes and flasks and things, I am sure somebody, somewhere, has written something on the topic! I am not really talking about books like 'Extraordinary popular delusions', nor Andreas Libavius' fulminations against spiritually ill practitioners (both product of their own contemporary orthodoxies), but something a little more substantial.. I would be most grateful for any hints and Hinweise! Vale feliciter, Leigh |
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Paul Ferguson Member 
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Hi Leigh, Well Newton and Rudolf II are the most famous examples I guess. Try Dr. Harold Klawans' book Newton's Madness: http://www.amazon.com/Newtons-Madness-Further-Clinical-Neurology/dp/0060162562 and Peter Marshall's 'Magic Circle': http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Circle-Rudolf-Astrology-Renaissance/dp/B001G7RAEU The bibliographies in there may help. And doesn't Ben Jonson mention 'alchemical madness' in 'The Alchemist'? I'm sure there must be some relevant studies, P Last edited on Sun Feb 1st, 2009 03:40 am by Paul Ferguson |
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Alan Pritchard Guest
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Here is an extract from my bibliography - searching titles and descriptions for the strings *madn* or *nsan* Probably a lot of rubbish, but I hope you may find some gold amongst the dross! Attachment: madness.zip (Downloaded 1491 times) |
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Leigh Penman Member
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Thanks all, Evans does indeed have some poignant insights, as does Pete Forshaw's article! Thanks once again! |
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