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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 14.2336  Thursday, 11 December 2003

From:           Edward Pixley <pixley@oneonta.edu>
Date:           Wednesday, 10 Dec 2003 09:33:01 -0500
Subject: 14.2324 Ben Jonson Journal, vol. 10: Table of Contents
Comment:        Re: SHK 14.2324 Ben Jonson Journal, vol. 10: Table of Contents

>Just a quick question since Ben Jonson is on the list again. Yes or no
>or short answer is sufficient.
>
>As I am at the moment reading 'The Alchemy Scam' by Erasmus, and not
>finished yet, I was wondering if perhaps Jonson's 'The Alchemist' which
>I read only once is possibly influenced by this prior work? In what way?

I don't know the answer to your question, but the entire play can be
read as the working out of the alchemical process, including the
hermetically sealed house.  "Wit" is the gold that emerges at the end.
A chemist friend and I worked out all the details of it several years
ago.  Though we never published our results, we had a lot of fun.

Ed Pixley

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