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Paul Ferguson
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Posted: Fri Nov 28th, 2008 11:49 am |
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Haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else:
A Facsimile Rosicrucian Alchemical Manuscript on the Philosophers' Stone, containing the Three Magisteriums of the Art
Attributed to Edward Kelley 1592-97, the companion of Dr. John Dee
(from an unpublished handwritten notebook circa 1860 which reflects the secret alchemical traditions of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn).
Available for £65 from:
http://www.jwmt.org/v2n15/hellfire.htmlLast edited on Fri Nov 28th, 2008 11:50 am by Paul Ferguson
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adammclean
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Posted: Sat Nov 29th, 2008 04:38 pm |
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Unfortunately the provenance of this is uncertain.
Without access to the original manuscript it is impossible to say whether this is really quite modern or not.
There might be clues in the text which could reveal its true age but I am reluctant to spent £65 finding out.
It could just be another Necronomicon.
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Paul Ferguson
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Posted: Sat Nov 29th, 2008 08:29 pm |
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Rumour has it that further details and images of the text will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Alchemy Journal:
http://www.alchemylab.com/journal.htm
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adammclean
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Posted: Sun Nov 30th, 2008 09:31 am |
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If a publisher had discovered a rare manuscript, that he believed was genuine, he would want to have this authenticated by scholars familiar with this material. To merely issue some images of selected pages in a popular non-critical Journal is not really a means for futhering confidence in its authenticity.
As the publisher has established his copyright over the material through the recent publication, there should be no obstacle to allowing the manuscript to be examined by someone familiar with this type of material.
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Tom Willard
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Posted: Mon Dec 1st, 2008 09:27 am |
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| From the description, this would seem to be the notebook of W.A. Ayton, who was interested in Dee and alchemy and who joined the GD in old age. From what I have read of his life, he was more often deceived than deceiving.
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Paul Ferguson
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Posted: Mon Dec 1st, 2008 09:49 am |
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Ayton earns a mention in Ellic Howe's 'Fringe Freemasonry in England':
"Latterly (1883-5) [Frederick Hockley] had been tinkering with the formation of an exclusive little 'club' called The Society of Eight, apparently for the study of alchemy. Its prospective members in August 1883 were Irwin, [John] Yarker [author of 'The Arcane Schools', 'Masonry and the Crusades', etc.], the Rev. W. A. Ayton and Frederick Holland, whom Mackenzie described as 'a technically experienced chymist and metallurgist', and who was a member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia."
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"William Alexander Ayton (1816-1909), Vicar of Chacombe, Northamptonshire. He had an alchemical laboratory in his cellar and was afraid that his Bishop would learn of its existence. He was among the first to join the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888. W. B. Yeats, who met him in the G. D. milieu in 1890, described him as 'an old white-haired clergyman, the most panic-stricken person I have ever known' (Autobiographies, 1926, pp. 227-8). S. L. MacGregor Mathers introduced him to Yeats at a G.D. ceremony with the words: 'He unites us to the great adepts of the past.' Ayton was invested as Provincial Grand Chaplain for Oxfordshire in 1875."
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/aqc/fringe/fringe.html
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/aqc/fringe/notes.html#85
Ellic Howe also edited:
Alchemist of the Golden Dawn: The Letters of the Revd W.A. Ayton to F.L. Gardner and Others, 1886-1905, Aquarian Press 1985, ISBN 0850302889 (ISBN13: 9780850302882).Last edited on Mon Dec 1st, 2008 10:23 am by Paul Ferguson
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Paul Ferguson
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Posted: Mon Dec 1st, 2008 11:04 am |
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| Just in case it pops up somewhere in the facsimile manuscript, this is what Ayton's letterhead looks like: Attached Image (viewed 3147 times):
 Last edited on Tue Dec 2nd, 2008 04:46 am by Paul Ferguson
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Paul Ferguson
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Posted: Tue Dec 2nd, 2008 08:10 am |
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| And here is some of Ayton's handwriting for comparison purposes: Attached Image (viewed 2681 times):
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