Prospero’s America tells the story of John Winthrop Jr., specifically about his work on alchemy. This is done as a case study to show “the distinct and pervasive ways in which alchemical beliefs influenced colonial society.” (p. 3) To do this, Woodward touches on many different types of history, from political history to scientific history and many others, to present the cultural history of how John Winthrop Jr. and alchemy affected early New England’s culture. Woodward primarily uses the Winthrop Papers as the source pool to do this. The use of this source pool is both a blessing and a curse for the book, as it does provide a large amount of information on Winthrop and his life, but because of the nature of the collection, it contains mainly the letters he received. The other major challenge with the source pool is the secrecy that alchemists, Winthrop included, placed on their work, meaning that Winthrop primarily did not write to others about his alchemical work. For Prospero’s America, this creates a silence within the argument of the book of the actual alchemical work that Winthrop was doing. Still, because of the wealth of incoming letters, the book is able to support the argument of alchemy’s influence on early New England.
Woodward is the Connecticut State Historian emeritus and was previously the State Historian of Connecticut. Woodward received his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and focuses on the history of Connecticut and New England with multiple works on topics of witchcraft and alchemy. The past topics of Woodward’s works show a high level of knowledge on alchemy within Connecticut, making him a strong interpreter of the effects of alchemy on the culture of Connecticut. The book Prospero’s America specifically has won the Homer Babbidge Prize from the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, showing a view of the importance of the history of Connecticut.
The main narrative of this book focuses on the acceptance of alchemy within colonial New England and the effect that this practice had on the puritan culture of this period, and the cultural nature of Winthrop’s alchemical work. To do this, Woodward presents the development of New England’s view of Winthrop and how this was impacted by his views on alchemy. This story is separated into several sections that cover the breadth of Winthrop’s work within New England, his plantation of New London and develop the colony of Connecticut. These ideas all work to support the idea; Winthrop developed as an alchemist developed with Christian morals and millenarian ideals in mind, countering the idea of economically driven developments.
The first two chapters of this book set up the ideals of the alchemical movement that Winthrop worked within and tried to support in his projects. This section sets up the idea of the broader community of alchemy that Winthrop acts within. This section works to support the view of alchemists that travel and the idea that knowledge could only come from having the correct morals. This works to support the larger argument that alchemy worked within Christian morals to bring about the millennium.
Chapters three through five show how Winthrop worked within New England to create a space for pansophic learning to grow. In doing this, these chapters focus on New London, as this is where Winthrop intended to grow the pansophic movement by attracting other alchemists to join him on the plantation. This section also works to show how Winthrop attempted to work with the Native Americans near his plantation in a more harmonious way than other colonists. And in doing this, Woodward shows how through his ideals and the support of others, Winthrop plays politics poorly. As a whole, this chapter shows how Winthrop created his plantation with the moral ideal of progress in mind as he worked to create a space to generate more knowledge and work with natives through their culture instead of forcing them to conform to European standards.
In chapter six, Woodward shows how alchemy was deeply ingrained into the medical beliefs of early New England. Of the chapters of the book, this chapter focuses the most on the practice of alchemy done by Winthrop, and because of this, this chapter was an interesting view into the practice of medicine within early New England. It did this by showing how important Winthrop and his practice in New London were to people trying to become well in this period. In this, Prospero’s America showed how people viewed Winthrop as one of the best sources of medical information in New England. And because of this, the chapter heavily supports the idea that alchemy was considered an important part of the culture of early New England.
The final two chapters show the political landscape of New England at this time in both the politics of New England witch trials and the court of England. To do this, chapter seven shows how Winthrop worked as Governor and someone who worked as a prominent alchemist to influence Connecticut away from its previously harsh reaction to witch trials to a more moderate stance. And in chapter eight, Woodward presents how Winthrop used his connections as an alchemist to influence the King and his representatives within New England to be more favorable towards his goals for Connecticut. By doing this, Prospero’s America shows how Winthrop’s work as an alchemist gave him more standing to work politically within New England.
This book is largely written for an audience of scholars so that it can work to counter the argument of the argument that alchemy was done for economic purposes. Because of this, the book is intended to counter this argument it has a level of detail that is greater than many readers may wish but suits the intended audience. This book speaks to the public perception of the alchemist, specifically working as a physician in the new world, and expands on the views of doctors as seen in Sloane in Collecting the World. It also works to counter the idea that the market drove alchemists; instead, the book successfully argues the moral aspects of alchemical work, with profit being only a secondary aspect to many alchemists. Overall, Prospero’s America successfully works to show the integration of alchemy and alchemists within the culture of New England, showing how alchemy was an important part of puritan society.
