§ 45. Thomas Norton.
Thomas Norton, the author of the celebrated Ordinall of
Alchemy, was probably born shortly before
the commencement of the fifteenth century. The
Ordinall, which is
written in verse (and which will be found in Ashmole's
Theatrum
Chemicum Britannicum),
21 is
anonymous, but the author's identity is revealed by a curious device.
The initial syllables of the proem and of the first six chapters,
together with the first line of the seventh chapter, give the following
couplet:—
"Tomais Norton of Briseto,
A parfet Master ye maie him call trowe."
Samuel Norton, the grandson of Thomas, who was also an alchemist,
says that Thomas Norton was a member of the privy chamber of Edward IV.
Norton's distinctive views regarding the generation of the metals we
have already mentioned (see § 20). He taught that true knowledge
of the Art of Alchemy could only be obtained by word of mouth from an
adept, and in his Ordinall he gives an account of his own
initiation. He tells us that he was instructed by his master (probably
Sir George Ripley) and learnt the secrets of the Art in forty days, at
the age of twenty-eight. He does not, however, appear to have reaped the
fruits of this knowledge. Twice, he tells us, did he prepare the Elixir,
and twice was it stolen from him; and he is said to have died in 1477,
after ruining himself and his friends by his unsuccessful
experiments.
[1.]
It is perhaps advisable to mention
here that the lives of the alchemists, for the most part, are enveloped
in considerable obscurity, and many points in connection therewith are
in dispute. The authorities we have followed will be found, as a rule,
specifically mentioned in what follows; but we may here acknowledge our
general indebtedness to the following works, though, as the reader will
observe, many others have been consulted as well: Thomas Thomson's
The History of Chemistry, Meyer's A History of Chemistry,
the anonymous Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers (1815), the
works of Mr. A. E. Waite, the Dictionary of National Biography,
and certain articles in the Encyclopdæia Britannica. This
must not be taken to mean, however, that we have always followed the
conclusions reached in these works, for so far as the older of them are
concerned, recent researches by various authorities—to whom reference
will be found in the following pages, and to whom, also, we are
indebted—have shown, in certain cases, that such are not
tenable.
[2.]
Dr. Everard's translation of this work forms
vol. ii. of the Collectanea Hermetica, edited by W. Wynn
Westcott, M. B., D.P.H. It is now, however, out of print.
[3.]
F. P. VENABLE, Ph.D.: A Short History of
Chemistry (1896), p. 13.
[4.]
ERNST VON MEYER: A History of Chemistry
(translated by Dr. McGowan, 1906), p. 31.
[5.]
THOMAS THOMSON: The History of
Chemistry, vol. i. (1830), p. 33.
[6.]
ERNST VON MEYER: A History of Chemistry
(translated by Dr. McGowan, 1906), p. 35.
[7.]
See ROGER BACON'S Discovery of
Miracles, chaps. vi. and xi.
[8.]
ROGER BACON: The Mirror of Alchimy
(1597), p. 4.
[10.]
ROGER BACON: The Mirror of Alchimy
(1597), p. 4.
[12.]
See Lives of Alchemystical
Philosophers (1815), pp. 17 et seq.
[13.]
RAYMOND LULLY: Clavicula, or, A little
Key (see Aurifontina Chymica, 1680, p. 167).
[14.]
PETER BONUS: The New Pearl of Great
Price (Mr. A. E Waite's translation, pp. 176-177).
[15.]
"BASIL VALENTINE": The "Practica" (see
The Hermetic Museum, vol. i. p. 313).
[16.]
Sir H. E. ROSCOE, F.R.S., and C. SCHORLEMMER,
F.R.S: A Treatise on Chemistry, vol. i. (1905), p. 9.
[17.]
One hundred and Fourteen Experiments and
Cures of the Famous Physitian Theophrastus Paracelsus, whereunto is
added. . .certain Secrets of Isaac Hollandus, concerning the Vegetall
and Animall Work (1652), p. 35.
[18.]
BERNARD, EARL OF TRÉVISAN: A
Treatise of the Philosophers Stone, 1683 (see Collectanea
Chymica: A Collection of Ten Several Treatises in Chemistry, 1684,
P. 91).
[19.]
Sir GEORGE RIPLEY: The Compound of
Alchemy (see Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, edited by Elias
Ashrnole, 1652, p. 186).
[21.]
A prose version will be found in The
Hermetic Museum translated back into English from a Latin
translation by Maier.
