On the painting with the title "The Alchemist" from the Flemish Mattheus van Helmont, circa mid seventeenth century, are many uses and abuses of #earlymodern paper products reflected in the details. I will address 7 of these paper issues in the thread. Bonus for #Alchemy friends: a large écorché figure, a distillation apparatus over a fire, and metal working assistants.
Enjoy.
@histodons#Alchemy too was partly about storing. The box on the table is made of wood chips, and these boxes were #earlymodern storage options for fresh paper sheets, for letters, for paper drafts, and for small books. Being an alchemist was also about managing your writings, paper supply, and objects. Collectors and free thinkers alike needed boxes to arrange ideas and objects. In the painting, a distillation apparatus made of glass is stored next to a paper notebook. #histknow
@histodons That's a thematic folder to organize loose paper sheets: drafts, notes, letters, you name it. Folders were and are a handy tool of organizing paper knowledge. Battling the information revolution of #EarlyModernEurope meant very often: organizing your papers in thematic or chronological folders. As a knowledge field, #alchemy too was a paper business. #histodons#histknow