2 h 31 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if metals could be brought to perfection—and nature held the secret to changing them?
The Mirror of Alchimy opens a window into a medieval understanding of nature. This short treatise defines alchemy as a science of preparing an elixir: a medicine believed to perfect imperfect metals. Long associated with Roger Bacon, the English friar and scholar, it offers a compact introduction to an unfamiliar way of thinking.
At its heart lies a theory of metals forming within the earth from sulfur and mercury—principles that mean more than the ordinary substances. The artist's task is to cleanse matter and bring those principles into harmony. Scholars generally doubt Bacon's authorship, but the text remains a way to explore how a medieval mind pictures nature.
What you’ll discover
- Nature as a teacher Explore a treatise that treats alchemy as a branch of learning about the natural world.
- Metals beneath the earth Follow the book's account of how sulfur and mercury give rise to metals.
- The pursuit of perfection Discover why purification and harmony lie at the heart of the alchemist's task.
- A guarded path Encounter dense, deliberately guarded language rather than a set of working laboratory instructions.
- A name in question Consider the gap between the work's connection to Roger Bacon and its doubted authorship.
Who will love it
Readers drawn to the history of science, medieval ideas, symbols and secret learning will love this book, as will anyone curious about how early thinkers pictured metals, fire and the making of gold.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Every metal grows from quicksilver and sulfur
- Choose mineral matter, not plants or animals
- Imitate nature with steady heat in a sealed vessel
- Colors mark the stages, then projection finishes
- Hermes, Hortulanus and Galid add older voices
- Bacon argues that art and nature beat magic
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The Mirror of Alchimy
by Roger Bacon
Seven short chapters explain how quicksilver and sulfur become gold, using a sealed glass vessel and steady fire.
Challenging2–5 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Imagine a book that promises to turn lead into gold. The Mirror of Alchimy gathers writings on alchemy, the art of perfecting base metals.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Every metal grows from quicksilver and sulfur
The book opens by warning that ancient philosophers wrote in riddles and hid their science for good reason. Alchemy is then described as the art that teaches how to make the Elixir, which perfects imperfect bodies when it is cast upon them.
The theory behind it is simple. Mines hold two principles, quicksilver and sulfur, and all metals are formed from them. Nature always aims at gold, but accidents bend the result. Gold is perfect, silver nearly so, and lead, copper and iron carry faults such as earthiness or burning sulfur.
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What is The Mirror of Alchimy about?
It explains how metals form from quicksilver and sulfur, how the stone and Elixir are made, and how they change base metals into gold and silver.
Did Roger Bacon really write The Mirror of Alchimy?
The work is credited to Roger Bacon, who died in 1294. It brings together texts from several traditions, including the Emerald Tablet, a commentary by Hortulanus and a book by Galid, along with a discourse on art and nature.
What is the philosopher's stone in this book?
It is the finished product of the long cooking. The text also calls it the Elixir, a medicine that perfects imperfect metals, and describes it as passing through black, white and red stages.
The author
Roger Bacon
1220–1292 · Medieval English philosopher
English polymath, philosopher and friar.
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