Publisher's Synopsis
Numerous controversies surrounded the Paracelsian revival and early alchemical books in France. In the 1620s, Christian apologists denounced libertines and the materialistic and pantheistic authors of books on alchemy in the same breath. This study of the early French reception of alchemy and Paracelsian ideas will be followed by one on alchemical circles and their princely patrons, and another on science, religion, and literature in alchemical thought.