…this catalogue of alchemical manuscripts demonstrates that, like recipes for the philosopher’s stone, alchemical collections require generations of expert interpretation to reveal their secrets….
Review of Franziska Schaudeck, Die alchemische Handschriftensammlung der Leopold-Sophien-Bibliothek in Überlingen am Bodensee (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020), published in The Library, 23.2 (June 2022), pp. 268-270.
Type & Forme’s Dr Anke Timmermann has used, written, and reviewed catalogues of alchemica throughout her career as a historian of alchemy, which spans more than two decades. She was particularly delighted to discover this new catalogue of the previously little known collection of alchemical manuscripts at the Leopold Sophien library in the far south of Germany, in the town of Überlingen on Lake Constance – like Dr Timmermann, the author, Dr Franziska Schaudeck, took inspiration in her work from the late Professor Joachim Telle, who insisted ‘that collections must be documented intelligently before any meaningful interpretation can take place’.
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Review in The Library
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