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IMC 2005: Sessions

Session 206: Alchemy and Metallurgy: Learning and Doing

Monday 11 July 2005, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:AVISTA: The Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Science, Technology and Art in the Middle Ages
Organiser:Catherine Eagleton, Department of Coins & Medals, British Museum, London
Moderator/Chair:Catherine Eagleton, Department of Coins & Medals, British Museum, London
Paper 206-aIs It Alchemy? Is It Metallurgy? Is It Jewellery?: Archaeology and the Material Culture of the Laboratory
(Language: English)
Marcos MartinĂ³n-Torres, Institute of Archaeology, University College London
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Science
Paper 206-b'My deere Son I schall teach thee': Education and Instruction in Alchemical Poetry
(Language: English)
Anke Timmermann, Department of History & Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Science
Paper 206-cMasters and Apprentices: Becoming a Goldsmith in Late Medieval Northern Europe
(Language: English)
David Humphrey, Department of Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork & Jewellery, Royal College of Art, London
Index terms: Art History - General, Art History - Decorative Arts
Abstract

This session will look at objects and texts in medieval alchemy - what do the different methodological approaches that can be taken to this fascinating subject tell us about it? The three papers in this session will take evidence from texts and material culture as a starting point for discussion of alchemy in theory and practice.