Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., alchemy, and the creation of New England culture, 1606–1676 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., alchemy, and the creation of New England culture, 1606–1676 Jole Shackelford Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., alchemy, and the creation of New England culture, 1606–1676 Walter W. Woodward. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2010. Prospero’s America takes its title from Shakespeare’s alchemical magus in The Tempest, who Walter Woodward uses as a period icon for John Winthrop, Jr., to set the stage for his argument for the cultural importance of Paracelsian alchemy and late Renaissance natural philosophy in the history of colonial New England. The former governor of Connecticut and well-known collector of books on alchemy and other aspects of occult philosophy has been subject to study before, but Woodward’s novelty is to place Winthrop’s training in alchemy and alchemical medicine squarely in the context of the colonial Englishman’s vision for the development of New England, a vision shared by the founding members of England’s Royal Society and their Rosicrucian and radical Calvinist forebears.1 Winthrop began study of alchemy in London during the 1620s and traveled to Turkey (1627–29) “seeking out alchemical contacts” (33) at their source, much as the mythical founder of the Rosicrucians had done. His commitment to Renaissance magic is evident from his choice of John Dee’s monas hieroglyphica as his personal emblem. By 1631, when he set out with his family for North America (where his father would become governor of Massachusetts), Winthrop was a practicing alchemist, intent on bringing Rosicrucian reformers’ alchemical vision of social and economic development to New England. For Woodward, alchemy was a worldview that glued Puritan hopes for renovation of the world to an irenic religious perspective and the alchemical medicine of the Paracelsians, understood as Protestant Christian ideology much along the same lines as in John Young’s Faith, Medical Alchemy and Natural Philosophy.2 Indeed, Woodward makes the further, interesting comment that “Politically, the Protestant alchemical quest for universal world improvement provided a useful counter to the Catholic universalism of the Hapsburg Empire.”(24) The irenic nature of alchemy helps to explain Winthrop’s mission and his success: it permitted friendships and the exchange of ideas to flourish across denominational and linguistic boundaries, equipping Winthrop to navigate the delicate political situation that was to confront him as a colonial leader. At the core of Woodward’s analysis is Winthrop’s commitment to the Rosicrucian reform and his practice of alchemical medicine. The Rosicrucian vision, which merged nicely with the Hartlib Circle’s endorsement of Comenian pansophism—Winthrop visited England (1641–43) and met Comenius—provided the colonial alchemist with a plan for developing a utopian plantation at the mouth of the Pequot River in eastern Connecticut. This plantation was to utilize the latest agricultural and technological developments and service a silver mine further up river. The mine, in turn, would provide the raw material for metallurgical arts. Winthrop exchanged seeds and plants with collectors abroad and sought to naturalize new grasses and other crops to develop the plantation’s productivity. Likewise, he established saltworks, ironworks, saltpeter production, and distilleries for processing tars and turpentines for local use and export. But Woodward makes an even stronger case for the importance of Winthrop’s practice of chemical medicine, both in establishing his reputation as a healer among fellow colonists and in positioning himself as a leader in relations between Europeans and Native peoples. Winthrop’s diplomatic skills were especially evident in 3 specific contexts: negotiations to stabilize his plantation, which was caught up in the politics of intertribal conflicts and the hegemonic maneuvers of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island to control the Pequot River basin; amelioration of witchcraft prosecutions, and; defense of colonial autonomy against the efforts of the English crown to control its overseas possessions. Woodward implicates Winthrop’s alchemical adeptness in all 3. His irenic willingness to see Native peoples as potential members of plantation society enabled his diplomatic mission, especially to the Pequot who resided in the area. His familiarity with the theory behind magic raised his skepticism about the ability of accused witches to accomplish the feats they were charged with, leading him...