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NICHOLAS FLAMEL
1330-1418
14th Century Alchemist
Scribe, Book Collector and Book Seller
Historical Notes on Nicolas Flamel's Life
by Danielle Duval LeMyre e-mail: dlemyre@yahoo.com
Messages: 514-995-4677
www.geocities.com/daniellla.geo/flamel.html
Nicholas was born in the fourteenth century in the town of Pontoise, France, of a poor but respectable family. He received a good education and his natural abilities allowed him to make good use of it.
At an early age he went to Paris and obtained employment as a public scrivener (similar to our present day Notary Public) in those years when many of the people were analphabets. Sitting at the corner of the Rue de Marivaux, copying or writing letters and other documents, he soon built a profitable business.
His reputation grew and his business prospered, so in a fairly short time he owned many bookstands, one near St-Jacques Church, for the sale of copies of famous manuscripts. Yes, he was "an early book store owner".
At the same time he conducted classes in cultural enlightenment for the Parisian nobility. He married a widow who was learned, educated, and energetic, and who brought with her a handsome dowry. Together they built up a business in cultural articles from which they grew richer year by year. Flamel's quick wit suggested to him that he could make more money in the pursuit of astrology.
He began casting horoscopes and telling fortunes. He was right, for he made even more money. It often happens that those who study the magic art for profit or amusement usually finish by addicting themselves to it with a blindly passionate love. So it was with Flamel.
Then Flamel had a remarkable dream. An angel appeared to him, holding a most impressive old and antique book in his right hand and saying to him:"Nicholas Flamel, behold this great volume. You understand nothing thereof, nor do many others to whom it will remain unintelligible, but one day you shall discern in its pages what none but yourself will see".
Flamel reached out for the book, but it suddenly vanished together with the angel. He retained a good picture of it in his mind and thought of it continuously with a great longing and regret. As a result of this vision, Flamel and his wife Pernella became interested in the hermetic arts and practiced alchemy in a laboratory they built in their home. In spite of his extensive business Flamel found time to pursue the philosopher's stone and the grand elixir. His bookstores, offices, and home were gathering places for occultists and adepts in the great art and were veritable scientific forums and academies.
Flamel devoted himself day and night to his fascinating pursuits and soon acquired a thorough knowledge of all that had been written previously about the "elixir vitae", the universal Akahest, and the philosopher's stone.
Day in, day out, Flamel hoped for the return of the angel or some other harbinger of the grand secret. He almost abandoned hope, until one day in 1357 he happened to buy an ancient volume from a travelling scholar in need of ready cash. He casually put it aside after admiring its mysterious and curious appearance, a few hours later he was suddenly struck by its resemblance to the book seen in his mystical dream. Rushing back to the book he was amazed to find it the very book the angel once held in his hand.
It was a most unusual book, made of Copper and had some tree bark covered with Latin texts inscribed with a steel instrument and containing three times seven leaves. The printing was marvelous, but the Latin was cryptical with some Hieroglyphs, which might be related to Hebrew words and strange signs and figures he copied onto his walls. Each seventh leaf of the book was free of words, but was emblazoned with beautiful drawings.
The first drawing showed a serpent swallowing rods, the second drawing showed a cross with a serpent crucified, and the third showed fountains playing in an arid desert surrounded with serpents trailing their slimy folds from side to side. Upon the first of the printed leaves, written in capital letters of gold was: 'Abraham the Jew, Priest, Prince, Levite, Astrologer, and Philosopher, dedicates this volume to the nation of the Jews dispersed by the wrath of God in France and wisheth them health.' The wrath of God was invoked upon anyone "that should look in to unfold it, except he were either Priest or Scribe." The text consoled the Jews and advised them to wait patiently for their coming Messiah. It then described the process and explained the use of every apparatus. Abraham said that this was to the end that the adept might help and assist his dispersed people to pay their tribute to the Roman Emperors. The text even pointed out the proper seasons for each equipment.
In fact, the book would have been perfect but for one thing: It was addressed not to the student, but to an adept. It took for granted that the adept was already in possession of the philosopher's stone. This was a terrible obstacle to the inquiring Flamel. The more he studied the book the less he understood it. He tried to find a learned man of Jewish extraction but they were all gone or exterminated, fleeing the antisemetism which was sweeping Europe in the wake of the Great Black Plague epidemic of 1326.
He studied the text and studied the illustrations and copied them. After several peripeties and travelling to Spain, supposedly as a pilgrim to the St.Jacques de Compostelle, but always making good use of the opportunity to meet rich or interesting people, since his quest for knowledge, true as it was, was backed-up by a true businessman's natural acumen, he did finally managed to find a rabbi to explain some copied inscriptions who was willing to come to see this book and Nicholas returned home with him to his wife and his beloved book (which he had left behind), but the Rabbi never made it to Paris, he died in Orleans after having explained some things to Flamel.... ...Yes, after many events too long to re-tell here, we see Nicholas living a prolonged life,(in those days men died before 40) as his wife's too, because, you see, he supposedly found the Philosopher's Stone to lenghten their lives and also, tru experiments, he said he could do the transmuting of metals, first mercury into silver, and a few months later in 1382, he and his wife said they did the same thing transmuting Mercury into gold.
Flamel grew fabulously rich not only with his discoveries, but also from money-lending practices to the young French and Spanish noblemen, and, indeed, he was called the richest man in France. Like a true adept, however, Flamel lived a humble life without luxuries though Flamel and Pernella spent a large part of their fortune on charity: they built fourteen hospitals and three Chapels and funded several humanitarian organizations feeding the poor and helping churches.
As a medical authority he advised:"Those who pursue medicine as they should and who industriously study the writings of their predecessors, must grant that this science of astrology is not only useful, but absolutely essential to medicine."
He enjoyed great fame, the most celebrated doctors of Europe came to his humble dwelling to pay him homage.
Once, King Charles VI of France sent a special reprensentative to greet him. He is believed to have died in 1418, leaving a deep imprint on Alchemy.
He published small treatises such as The Philosophical Summary and Le Desir Sire which achieved great popularity.
Other books or the above titles in French are:
L’Explication des figures hiéroglyphiques du cimetière des Saints-Innocents à Paris
Livre des laveurs
Le Sommaire philosophique
Le Désir désiré.
The French writer André Breton also wrote quite a bit on Nicolas Flamel.
More information is available on a French website Click here for Pausenhof FRENCH website
but most of the info for this page comes from:
ZOLAR, pp125-128, History of Astrology , Ed.ARCO, N.Y. 1972 in which book the author also dealt with several other individuals like:
Nostradamus, Paracelcus, Dante, Empedocles, Pythagora, Galileo, Lilly and many others