edited by:
JAMES 0.SCHRECK Northern Colorado Greeley. CO 80639
Universihl of
C. MARVINLANG University of Wisconsin Stevens Polm. WI 54481
Alchemy and Philately Gerard A. van Albadal Gorlaeus Laboratories, P.O. Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands J a m e s 0. Schreck University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO 80639
The chymists are a strange class of mortals impelled by an almost insane impulse to seek their pleasures among smoke and vapor, soot and flame, poisons and poverty, yet among all these evils I seem to live so sweetly, that may I die if I would change places with the Persian king. The above quotation, attributed to the German chemist Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682) and often called the Creed of a Chemist, probably describes verywell the lifestyle of the alchemist. However, to define alchemy itself is difficult. Alchemy has been described as a fascinating amalgam of primitive science, metallurgy, mysticism, philosophy, religion, astrology, and various occult sciences ( I ) . The origin of
' Author to whom reprint requests should be addressed.
alchemy is even more difficult todetermine than a definition of alchemy. In the English language alone there are over 3,000 writings about alchemy (2).A number of books (3)and several articles (4) have been published dealing with alchemy and the history of alchemy. Several articles in this Journal have described renroducible exneriments involvine~. nrocesser and preparatious k n o w tu the a n c i e m (5) and some medieval d i s n n ~ r i e and s "transmutations" ( 6 ) .Ren .Jonwn, an English dramatist, wrote a comedy in 161'2 in which three characters, one of whom the play is named after, The Alchemist, cheat people by holding out to them the promise ofthe f philusupher'3stune (7). I'rintsof ~ a i n t i n a s oalrhemistsaud their laboratories have been available as part of the Fisher Collection of Alchemical and Historical Pictures (8). This manuscript uniquely tells the story of alchemy through the use of postage stamps.
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Volume 64
Number 10 October 1987
889
ldentiflcatlon and Descrlptlon of Stamps Stamp No.
Issuing Country
Year of Issue
Scan Catalog No.
Afghanistan Ascension United Arab Republic East Germany Greece
Greece Monaco Monaco
Czechoslovakia Switzerland Portugal
Belgium Greece West Germany Spain
Zaire Greece Belgium
Syria Iran Lebanon Egypt
Jordan West Germany Vatican City Spain West Germany East Germany East Germany East Germanv
-
--
Netherlands
1935
8107
Ireland
19R1
A97
Alchemy probably originated in China during the fourth century B.C. The Chinese knew how to prepare fireworks (stamp # 1) and rockets (stamp #2), both of which involve important chemical processes. One of the earliest references to a mixture of saltneter. in a . . sulfur. and charcoal anoears .. chemical report in China in the year 91R.'L'he mixture was Iatrr used in 1044 to fill bnmhoo rockets carwine. arrows and spears (9).From its Chinese beginnings, alchemy spread through Greek, Eawtian. and Arabic cultures. -.. ~ r o n z e copper, , iron, lead, tin, and gold were known to earlvman. The productionof metals from ores, the manufacture of brewing, baking, and the preparation of medicines, dyes, and drugs are ancient arts. Evidence indicates that the Egyptians in about 3000 B.C. were skilled in dyeing cloth and embalming their dead. The preparation of a black hue from the fusion of alead-copper alloy with sulfur is attributed to Mary the Jewess. This mysterious woman alchemist. to whom there are manv references in alchemical writings fiom the Egyptian period(10), was often identified with Miriam. the sister of Moses. In addition to the black dye, she is credited with the invention of the water bath (called bain-marie by the French), and of the kerotakis. The latter was a closed vessel in which thin leaves of copper and other metals could be exposed to the action of various vapors, notably mercury. Along with the alembic, the kerotakis formed the chief laboratory apparatus of the early alchemists. The Egyptians had a pharmaceutical industry where herbs were processed and salves were made (left side of stamp #3) and possessed furnaces to separate impurities from metals (stamp #4). For example, they knew how to obtain conner bv heatine malachite ore with charcoal. Indeed, the'~gyp
