Spike Bucklow

The book is published with an extensive Bibliography (ca. 400 entries), a Glossary of unfamiliar terms, an Index, numerous Notes (divided into explanatory ones printed as footnotes and more than 1000 abbreviated literature references collected in the Appendix) and some simple pen-drawings by the author.
I picked this book up after attending a fascinating lecture by the author about the manufacturing of the intense blue ultramarine in the medieval ages and the world view underlying it, a subject about which I knew little. Ultramarine – more precious than gold then – is one of the five real or mythical colours Bucklow deals with in the book. By discussing the ancient preparation and symbolism of these colours – a fascinating subject - S,B. introduces us to their symbolic and anagogic meanings in the ancient and medieval world.

The author obviously put in an enormous amount of research. He set himself a difficult task: to find a ‘red-thread’ in diverse legends that spread over 2 millennia and diverse cultures that extended from the Mediterranean to India. He is meticulous in quoting his sources. Nevertheless the book left me dissatisfied. Why?

The style: S.B. writes very clearly but he writes as if addressing high-school kids. For this old Meister, who - as it is well known - has no patience with angels, his style is simply unacceptable!

The amount of details and lack of time-references: The general interested reader – like me - gets lost in the overwhelming amount of details. This is made worse by digressions that contribute little (two examples: footnote (ii) p.79; William Law quote p. 80.)
The general lack of information about the date of ancient texts referred to makes it more difficult to get an idea about the birth, development and abandonment of ideas and believes during the 2000 years (ca. 400 B.C. to 1600 A.D.) he considers. For example, the idea, prevalent in medieval alchemy, that the world consists of the four basic “root”- elements fire, water, air and earth is introduced page 49, but we are informed only page 55 that this idea is generally attributed to the 5th century B.C. Greek philosopher Empedocles. And in his citations he often jumps within one page over hundreds of years often without this becoming clear unless you follow up the sources (to do this is time-consuming as the Notes are not user-friendly). This could have been alleviated if the ancient sources and their dates would have either been incorporated into the text, or given as footnotes. C.G. Jung’s “Psychologie und Alchemie” deals with this problem in an exemplary fashion.

Questionable parallels: S.B. points to complimentary concepts in Aristoteles’ hylomorphism and the yin and yang dualism in Chinese philosophy. Nothing wrong with that – although he does not state that both concepts are unlikely to be related (J.D.Bernal: Science in History, p.176). What I object to is that he uses frequently yin and yang later as convenient terms to designate complementary concepts in alchemy which easily could be taken as implying derivation one from the other or from a common root.

Trust in his account: I am left with the impression of a much more unified world view than was likely the case: see e.g. C.G. Jung’s account of widely differing contemporary ideas about the ‘Materia Prima’.
When he cites supporting sources separated by 500 or 1000 years it remains unclear how prevalent this view was at these times (or any time in between). Occasionally it is not clear whether he presents original research.

The author can be criticised for much but the publisher also lets him down: Immediately obvious is the lack of ancient illustrations - likely for reasons of cost - that enliven Jung’s “Psychologie und Alchemie”. These I miss badly. The few poor drawings don’t count. The text is left ‘dry’ without them.

Further two small but annoying points that have nothing to do with costs: The literature should have been listed for clarity by ‘surname, first name’ and not the reverse, and the page headings should have displayed the chapter titles so as not to lose one’s place (instead of repeating the book-title and –author on every single leaf :- a careless stupidity!).

To summarise: The book is stimulating though disappointing in the presentation. However, it gave me the incentive to delve deeper into some of the ancient ideas and texts and to look for missing images that expresses these. As such it is suitable as a foundation text for a course that allows ample time to follow up many of the sources.

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A little gem: Arab traders buying gold from African miners: a silent exchange, reciprocal gifts rather than trade, already mentioned by Herodotus 5th century BC but still practiced 2000 years later (p.178).
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(XI-14)… (plus d'informations)

Pros: very well researched, explains things clearly using numerous examples, goes over various historical traditions

Cons: only mentions the most expensive pigments artists used, only a few illustrations

This is an exploration of colours used by painters in the middle ages by way of their ‘scientific’ and alchemical significance. It mentions myths, traditions, physical and spiritual significances of the materials according to Traditional beliefs. It also goes over the alchemical procedures that made these already expensive pigments even more important.

I was expecting a treatise on all the different pigments used in the middle ages, something akin to a teaching manual. Instead, I got a mind blowing exploration of philosophy and world beliefs of the past. I’ve always been interested in alchemy, and this book explained things like Plato’s cave, 4 element theory, and the Philosopher’s Stone in a way that was easy to understand. While there were only a few simple figure drawings, the clarity of the writing meant illustration wasn’t really necessary (even if it would have been welcome).

Only a few pigments are mentioned: Tyrian purple, ultramarine blue, vermilion and dragonsblood (both red), and gold. Later chapters revisit some of these materials showing their spiritual, rather than physical, significance. I appreciated learning that the location and method of obtaining materials had meaning for the later artwork and use of the pigments, which I hadn’t expected. Similarly, it doesn’t cover all aspects of alchemy, just those associated with the pigments being discussed.

The opening’s a bit condescending in the way of ‘we don’t think as they did, so it will be hard for you to understand what I’m about to say’, but he quickly moved on to the topic at hand, and only occasionally gave a modern analogy for those who might have trouble wrapping their heads around the Traditional world view (as opposed to the modern Scientific, analytical view).

This is a fascinating book and if you have any interest in alchemy I can’t recommend it enough. Another thing it showed, that modern audiences don’t recognize, is how interconnected the world of the past was. We see Europe as an isolated area, ignoring the fact that materials and ideas traversed borders and continents to influence them. I also didn’t realize just how much Christianity took from other traditions. Looks like I’ve a whole lot more reading and research to do.… (plus d'informations)