![]() This book fell into the hands of precisely the man who was destined to receive it and he, with the help of the text and the hieroglyphic diagrams that taught the transmutation of metals into gold, accomplished the transmutation of his soul, which is a far rarer and more wonderful operation. In the fourteenth century, the pure truth of the masters was transmitted by a book. Or it may happen that a charlatan, performing tricks to astonish men, may produce, perhaps without knowing it himself, a ray of real light with his dice and magic mirrors. Or a sect of mystics receives the teaching of a philosophy, like rain on a summer evening, gathers it in and spreads it abroad with love. Sometimes a prophet comes forward and speaks. Wisdom has various means for making its way into the heart of man. Albert Pike makes reference to Nicholas Flamel in his book Morals and Dogma of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. He had already achieved legendary status within the circles of alchemy by the mid 17th Century, with references in Isaac Newton's journals to "the Caduceus, the Dragons of Flammel". Interest in Flamel revived in the 19th century, and Victor Hugo mentioned him in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In addition, Flamel is said to have studied some texts in Hebrew. With this knowledge, over the next few years, Flamel and his wife allegedly decoded enough of the book to successfully replicate its recipe for the Philosopher's Stone, producing first silver in 1382, and then gold. On the way back, he reported that he met a sage, who identified Flamel's book as being a copy of the original Book of Abraham the Mage. The introduction claims that, around 1378, he traveled to Spain for assistance with translation. In the publisher's introduction Flamel's search for the philosopher's stone was described.Īccording to that introduction, Flamel had made it his life's work to understand the text of a mysterious 21-page book he had purchased. It is a collection of designs purportedly commissioned by Flamel for a tympanum at the Cimetire des Innocents in Paris, long disappeared at the time the work was published. An alchemical book, published in Paris in 1613 as Livre des figures hieroglypiques and in London in 1624 as Exposition of the Hieroglyphical Figures was attributed to Flamel. ![]() The tombstone is preserved at the Musee de Cluny in Paris.Įxpanded accounts of his life are legendary. Flamel lived into his 80s, and in 1410 designed his own tombstone, which was carved with arcane alchemical signs and symbols. Later in life they were noted for their wealth and philanthropy as well as multiple interpretations on modern day alchemy. Nicolas and his wife Perenelle were Roman Catholics. The essence of his reputation are claims that he succeeded at the two magical goals of alchemy: that he made the Philosopher's Stone, which turns lead into gold, and that he and his wife Perenelle achieved immortality through the "Elixir of Life". The modern assertion that many references to him or his writings appear in alchemical texts of the 16th century, however, has not been linked to any particular source. As Deborah Harkness put it, "Others thought Flamel was the creation of 17th-century editors and publishers desperate to produce modern printed editions of supposedly ancient alchemical treatises then circulating in manuscript for an avid reading public." Nicolas Flamel 1330 - Paris, Mawas a successful French scrivener and manuscript-seller who developed a posthumous reputation as an alchemist due to his reputed work on the Philosopher's Stone.Īccording to the introduction to his work and additional details that have accrued since its publication, Flamel was the most accomplished of the European alchemists, and had learned his art from a Jewish converso on the road to Santiago de Compostela.
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