Solomon's Secret Arts: The Occult in the Age of Enlightenment

457 Pages·2013·22.43 MB·English

by  Paul Kléber Monod

SOLOMON’S SECRET ARTS
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S O L O M O N ’ S
P
S EC R E T A RT S
The OCCULT IN THE
AGE of ENLIGHTENMENT
Paul Kléber Monod
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
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Copyright © 2013 Paul Kléber Monod
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.
For information about this and other Yale University Press publications, please contact:
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Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Monod, Paul Kléber.
Solomon’s Secret Arts: The Occult in the Age of Enlightenment/Paul Kleber Monod.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-300-12358-6 (hardback)
1.  Magic.  2.  Science—History—Miscellanea.  3.  Alchemy.  4.  Occult sciences.
5.  Enlightenment.  I. Title.
BF1611.M65 2013
130.9—dc23
2012043028
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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To Jan and Evan, as always.
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Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: What Was the Occult? 1
Part One: Aurora, 1650–1688
Chapter One: The Alchemical Heyday 23
Chapter Two: The Silver Age of the Astrologers 53
Chapter Three: The Occult Contested 82
Part Two: Eclipse, 1688–1760
Chapter Four: A Fading Flame 119
Chapter Five: The Newtonian Magi 157
Chapter Six: The Occult on the Margins 189
Part Three: Glad Day, 1760–1815
Chapter Seven: The Occult Revival 227
Chapter Eight: An Occult Enlightenment? 263
Chapter Nine: Prophets and Revolutions 300
Conclusion 339
Manuscript Sources 347
Notes 350
Index 420
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Illustrations
1. Engraving of an alchemical adept and a student from Elias Ashmole, Theatrum
Chemicum Britannicum (London, 1652). © The British Library Board.
2. Engraving of a Behmenist alchemical diagram from The Philosophical Epitaph of
W.C. Esq. (London, 1673). © The British Library Board.
3. Page from John Gadbury, ΕΩΗΜΕΡΙΣ, Or, A Diary Astronomical and Astological, For
the Year of Grace 1668 (London, 1667), showing the astrological man. The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
4. Frontispiece portrait engraving from John Heydon, Theomagia: Or, The Temple of
Wisdom (London, 1664). © The British Library Board.
5. Frontispiece engraving of six scenes of apparitions from Joseph Glanvill, Saducismus
Triumphatus: The Second Part (London, 1681). © The British Library Board.
6. Frontispiece engraving of the Palace of Secrets from Knorr von Rosenroth, Kabbala
Denudata, vol. 1, part 1 (Salzbach, 1677). Collection of German Literature, Beinecke
Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
7. Frontispiece engraving of the Tree of Life from Baro Urbigerus, Aphorismi Urbigerani
(London, 1690). © The British Library Board.
8. Engraving of two sigils from John Partridge, Merlinus Liberatus (London, 1698). The
Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
9. Engraved plan of the Temple of Solomon from Sir Isaac Newton, The Chronology of
Ancient Kingdoms Amended (London, 1728). © The British Library Board.
10. Avebury as a serpent, an engraving from William Stukeley, Abury, A Temple of the
British Druids (London, 1743). © The British Library Board.
11. Frontispiece portrait from Duncan Campbel, Secret Memoirs of the Late Mr. Duncan Campbel,
The Famous Deaf and Dumb Gentleman (London, 1732). © The British Library Board.
12. Fold-out engravings of “The Third Table” from Jacob Behmen, “Four Tables of Divine
Revelation,” in The Works of Jacob Behmen, vol. 3 (London, 1772). © The British Library Board.
13. Engraved portrait of Ebenezer Sibly, from Ebenezer Sibly, The Medical Mirror (London,
1794). The Wellcome Library, London.
14. Joseph Wright of Derby, “The Alchymist discovers Phosphorus,” 1771. © 09/2012 Derby
Museums and Art Gallery, Derby.
15. “Revolution of America”, from Ebenezer Sibly, A New and Complete Illustration of the
Occult Sciences (2 vols in one, London, 1790). © The British Library Board.
16. Peter Lambert de Lintot, “Chapter and Grand Lodge of England,” engraving, 1789. The
Library and Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons’ Hall, London.
17. “Animal Magnetism—The Operator putting his Patient into a Crisis,” engraving from
Ebenezer Sibly, A Key to Physic, and the Occult Sciences (London, 1810). The Wellcome
Library, London.
18. Urizen from William Blake, Europe: A Prophecy (1794). © The British Library Board.
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1 The aspiring young alchemical adept accepts a book of secrets from his aged master in this
engraving from Elias Ashmole’s Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. Above them, angels rejoice and
the Holy Spirit sends out celestial rays. The two columns and the lions suggest that the location is
Solomon’s Temple, while the borders are filled with the abundance of Nature. The alchemist’s quest
is at the center of the divine and natural universes.