09-01-2023, 10:54 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2023, 11:25 AM by Paul Ferguson.)
"Sir Robert Paston (1631-1683) of Oxnead Hall in Norfolk was known in his own time for his loyal support of Charles II, his magnificent house and kunstkammer collection, his political activities, and for his chymical and alchemical pursuits. His family died out in the early eighteenth century with the premature deaths of his grandsons, and today the Pastons are remembered mostly for the famous letters of an earlier generation. However, some seventeenth century items survive: inventories, documents, artefacts and an enigmatic painting The Paston Treasure in Norwich Castle Museum, which depicts some of Robert’s and his father’s collection."
https://recipes.hypotheses.org/tag/robert-paston
"Sir Robert Paston (1631-83) was a patient and friend of Sir Thomas Browne and an alchemist. He may have wanted to create gold, but his interest appears
to have been philosophical as well. He was also an Original Fellow of the Royal Society, along with such men as Elias Ashmole, John Aubrey and John Evelyn, although he was expelled in 1682, as the society distanced itself from its origins.
https://www.sirthomasbrowne.org.uk/uploa...ed__1_.pdf
"In 2018, Michael Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History at London University, discovered a document in the Wellcome Library. It was a notebook written in Italian by Margaret [Paston] in the 1680s, listing numerous pharmacological and alchemical recipes. Robert Paston was a keen alchemist, who had his own laboratory, but from the notebook it becomes clear that Margaret maintained her own alchemical workshop in Venice. Robert is mentioned in her book, along with his various scientific experiments undertaken at ‘casa Paston’, which must mean Oxnead Hall. Since Margaret left Norfolk aged only twenty-one and had almost no later contact, one can only conclude that she had assisted her father in his laboratory, and was thus involved with science herself from a young age."
"This little girl appears in one of our most important paintings: The Paston Treasure. Painted around 1662-3 at Oxnead Hall, Norfolk, it contains many mysteries, but the girl is likely to represent one of two sisters, Mary Paston or her elder sister Margaret. Recent research strongly suggests that the most probable candidate is Margaret Paston (1652-c.1723)."
https://norwichcastle.wordpress.com/2021...alchemist/
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2018/06/23/a-...al-secret/
"The Paston Treasure":
https://recipes.hypotheses.org/tag/robert-paston
"Sir Robert Paston (1631-83) was a patient and friend of Sir Thomas Browne and an alchemist. He may have wanted to create gold, but his interest appears
to have been philosophical as well. He was also an Original Fellow of the Royal Society, along with such men as Elias Ashmole, John Aubrey and John Evelyn, although he was expelled in 1682, as the society distanced itself from its origins.
https://www.sirthomasbrowne.org.uk/uploa...ed__1_.pdf
"In 2018, Michael Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History at London University, discovered a document in the Wellcome Library. It was a notebook written in Italian by Margaret [Paston] in the 1680s, listing numerous pharmacological and alchemical recipes. Robert Paston was a keen alchemist, who had his own laboratory, but from the notebook it becomes clear that Margaret maintained her own alchemical workshop in Venice. Robert is mentioned in her book, along with his various scientific experiments undertaken at ‘casa Paston’, which must mean Oxnead Hall. Since Margaret left Norfolk aged only twenty-one and had almost no later contact, one can only conclude that she had assisted her father in his laboratory, and was thus involved with science herself from a young age."
"This little girl appears in one of our most important paintings: The Paston Treasure. Painted around 1662-3 at Oxnead Hall, Norfolk, it contains many mysteries, but the girl is likely to represent one of two sisters, Mary Paston or her elder sister Margaret. Recent research strongly suggests that the most probable candidate is Margaret Paston (1652-c.1723)."
https://norwichcastle.wordpress.com/2021...alchemist/
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2018/06/23/a-...al-secret/
"The Paston Treasure":