Penny Bayer – Women’s Alchemical Literature 1560-1616 in Italy, France, the Swiss Cantons and England, and its Diffusion to 1660.

Submitted for the degree of PhD in Comparative Literature – April 2003.

Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies. University of Warwick

• Chapter one: Introduction 1
• Chapter two: The Cultural Context 45. The impact of Paracelsianism on women 46. Reading Paracelsian-cabalistic-alchemical ideas 55. The significance of alchemy in court culture 63. Humanism and women’s education 70. Alchemy, theology and spiritual practice 73. Alchemy and household management 86
• Chapter three: La Signora Isabella Cortese’s I Secreti and the context:
• other Italian women’s participation in alchemy 95
• Chapter four: Madame de la Martinville, Quercitan’s Daughter, circulating manuscripts, and the context: participation by other French/Swiss women in alchemy 147
• Chapter five: Lady Margaret Clifford, an alchemical receipt book, and the context: other Englishwomen’s participation in alchemy 204
• Chapter six: Conclusion 263
• Bibliography