Spiritual alchemy: a history of interpretation.
Study a named reception history without treating later spiritual readings as ancient laboratory evidence.
Begin with the book’s scope
Spiritual Alchemy: From Jacob Boehme to Mary Anne Atwood identifies the figures and intellectual history considered by the study. The scope gives a boundary to the question. Oxford University Press ↗
Keep interpretation dated
A later spiritual reading of an alchemical image or process is historical evidence for that reading. It does not by itself establish what the earliest author intended. Oxford University Press ↗
Trace a particular reinterpretation
Compare a later commentary with its cited text. Record who made the comparison, when, and which features were changed or emphasized. Oxford University Press ↗