Alchemy and Rudolf II

[Paul Ferguson]

"It is difficult to think of a theme in Bohemian and Central European history in the early modern age that is so popular and at the same time still today so little understood as that of the alchemy that is associated with the reign of the Emperor Rudolf II (1552–1612). The blame for this can by no means be laid solely at the door of the wellknown film from the early 1950s, for it only took over the oversimplified picture of “Rudolfine alchemy” as it was developed in Czech and German historiography in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. This picture mixed legends with facts that could be historically documented, and which were consequently frequently interpreted incorrectly."

Alchemy and Rudolf II
By Artefactum Publishing house ÚDU AV ČR
Ivo Purš, Vladimír Karpenko (eds.) 

Preface only:

https://www.academia.edu/37691263/Alchemy_and_Rudolf_II