Comments on: Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy, and the Creation of New England Culture, 1606-1676 Review https://dev.jessicaotis.com/2023/03/20/prosperos-america-john-winthrop-jr-alchemy-and-the-creation-of-new-england-culture-1606-1676-review/ HIST 615/635 Spring 2023 Wed, 22 Mar 2023 03:35:43 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 By: Laszlo Taba https://dev.jessicaotis.com/2023/03/20/prosperos-america-john-winthrop-jr-alchemy-and-the-creation-of-new-england-culture-1606-1676-review/#comment-47 Wed, 22 Mar 2023 03:35:43 +0000 https://dev.jessicaotis.com/?p=584#comment-47 Alex, I enjoyed your review. I like how you describe Woodward’s source pool leading to a silence in the argument of the book. I agree with you that the book does a good job describing the bigger picture of alchemy in New England. That was a surprise to me, but, to be honest, colonial New England is an area of history with which I’m not so familiar.

As for the moral aspects of alchemy and profit being a secondary motive, I have to admit that I have my doubts even after reading Woodward’s book. Maybe there was something about the way he discussed the profit motive, especially in the first chapter, where he addresses it directly, that made me want to learn more before agreeing. I’ll need to review my notes before class. I’m looking forward to that topic coming up in our class discussion.

]]> By: Dominick Mellusi https://dev.jessicaotis.com/2023/03/20/prosperos-america-john-winthrop-jr-alchemy-and-the-creation-of-new-england-culture-1606-1676-review/#comment-46 Tue, 21 Mar 2023 19:59:37 +0000 https://dev.jessicaotis.com/?p=584#comment-46 Alex, thank you for this thoughtful review of Prospero’s America by Walter W. Woodward. I enjoyed how you took a different approach than I have seen myself and others do and introduced the aims of the book first and foremost. I suspect this may be a better strategy than introducing the credentials of the author first as the book is the main subject at hand, not the author. I will probably start to implement this. It is also outlined, early on, that the sources for this book have many short comings. I suppose a question I would have is, how much of a clear picture can these letter correspondence be if we are only seeing one side of a conversation? You then move on to describe Woodward’s credentials and why he is qualified to write this monograph. He is not only a historian of alchemy, but of Connecticut specifically. I was unaware of this until I read your review, so I appreciate the information. You outline the structure of the book in a way that makes sense, starting with John Winthrop’s unique ideas of alchemy that the author coins as “Christian alchemy” and ending with the political landscape of New England within the last two chapters. In your last paragraph you make the case that the book is written specifically for scholars in the field to counter prevailing narratives surrounding the practice of alchemy. Both the perceptions that alchemy was practiced for economic purposes, and that the market drove alchemists. You say that instead the book successfully argued that the moral aspects of alchemy were the main drivers here. Perhaps, in class, we can expand on this and discuss why the argument was successful. I am not sure if it was yet. I would also like to explore why this book is a cultural history first and foremost despite it containing so many other facets such as politics, economics, science, and religion. Again, thank you for this review.

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