The Alchemy of Glass: Counterfeit, Imitation, and Transmutation in Ancient Glassmaking (review)

Although the relationship between alchemy and glassmaking should not be surprising to historians of technology and science, it has been overlooked until recently. The thriving history of alchemy has focused predominantly on the transmutation of gold, while historians of glass have neglected to include alchemical sources as part of their research. The 2008–09 exhibition on alchemy and glass in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries at the Corning Museum, New York, first revealed growing interest in this area. Marco Beretta’s book, which explores the ancient origins of the connection between glassmaking and alchemy, is a significant addition and a much-needed introduction to this developing area of study.

Beretta sets out to trace the ancient beginnings of glassmaking in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece and to parallel this technological development with the development of the science of matter. He argues that innovations in glassmaking techniques enabled thinkers to redefine their perspective on the nature of matter and inspired the alchemical theory of transmutation. In particular, the increasing perfection with which glassmakers could imitate natural gems and stones laid the foundations for transmutation theory in alchemy. If glassmakers could form imitations indistinguishable from nature using artificial processes, it was a small step to theorize that art could create natural materials through transmutation.

Beretta seeks to place his study of ancient glassmaking within the material history of science. Having indicated the influence of glassmaking on ancient alchemical theory, he traces the development of alchemy and glass-making in Byzantium and the medieval Latin West during the Renaissance and beyond. His aim is to demonstrate a continuous and ever-developing association between glassmaking and early chemical science until the Scientific Revolution. Beretta supports his discussion with analysis of textual and material sources.

While Beretta considers his book a contribution to the material history of science, he succeeds in achieving a great deal more. His comparison of the discussion of glass in natural philosophy with the use of glass in technology reveals much about the cultural significance of glass in ancient society, which in turn illuminates the status of art, nature, and imitation. He demonstrates for example, that glass had a high economic value in ancient culture, often surpassing the value of gold. The assignment of value to such an artificially produced material was possible because ancient thinkers did not force a distinction between art and nature, accepting blurred boundaries between the two. The importance of notions of art and nature on the development of matter theory and the status of glassmaking is made clear with reference to ancient cultures; however, it is not pursued to the same degree in Beretta’s discussion of glass and alchemy in later centuries. This is a missed opportunity, because the shifting meaning of the popular paradigm that art imitates nature may have had a profound impact on the interpretation of ancient alchemy and glassmaking in the medieval and Renaissance periods.

Imitation and counterfeiting form an important part of Beretta’s argument. Imitation could be greatly praised in the ancient world, and glass imitations of gems could fetch high prices, probably owing to the expertness of the illusion. Beretta demonstrates that it was this positive approach to imitation in the ancient period that encouraged glassmakers to perfect their art. His discussion of imitation presents a strong argument for the interrelationship of alchemy and glassmaking. However his analysis at times loses some of its impact because he does not define his terms precisely. “Imitation,” “counterfeit,” and “fraud” are loaded words today, and the book would have benefited from contextualized definitions of such terms.

The Alchemy of Glass presents a strong and coherent analysis of the early association of alchemy and glassmaking. The book is an excellent example of how material history can draw together previously disparate areas of study and shed new light on well-known sources. Historians of alchemy, technology, and material culture will benefit from Beretta’s expert synthesis of alchemical, philosophical...