SOLOMON’S SECRET ARTS 3989.indd 1 09/02/13 5:01 PM 3989.indd 2 09/02/13 5:01 PM 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 3989.indd 3 09/02/13 5:01 PM 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: U.S. Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.com Europe Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.co.uk Set in Minion Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall 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. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3989.indd 4 09/02/13 5:01 PM To Jan and Evan, as always. 3989.indd 5 09/02/13 5:01 PM 3989.indd 6 09/02/13 5:01 PM P 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 3989.indd 7 09/02/13 5:01 PM P 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. 3989.indd 8 09/02/13 5:01 PM 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.