This eight-page manuscript estimated at $200,000-300,000 in the March 9 Bonhams sale is in Isaac Newton’s hand, is complete and gives detailed instructions on the scientific process to create the Philosopher’s Stone, a substance that could turn lesser materials into gold.
In conjunction with his groundbreaking contributions to mathematics and science, Isaac Newton also explored the experimental possibilities of alchemy, or ‘chymistry’,
The eight-page manuscript estimated at $200,000-300,000 in the Bonhams sale is in Newton’s hand, is complete and gives detailed instructions on the scientific process to create the Philosopher’s Stone, a substance that could turn lesser materials into gold.
Bonhams says this manuscript represents “one of only a small number of Newton’s manuscripts that are in private hands, and is one of the longest and most substantial”.
