The Emperors Mercantile Alchemist

FIGURE 159. Tide page from the 1660 Frankfort edition of Natur-Kundigung der Met-allen by Johann Joachim Becher. Becher is known to chemists as the father of phlogiston theory. However, he was at least as famous for his knowledge of economics and his status as Advisor on Commerce to Leopold I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. (Erom The Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library, a collection in the Othmer Library, CHE.) 

Becher s transformation from a purveyor of alchemical secrets before 1655 into the trusted technical advisor to nobles and emperors over the next 15 years relied on his mastery of mechanics and science, amplified by his ability to market himself as the expert to consult in a world full of unscrupulous pretenders. Here is a segment from a letter to Emperor Leopold authored during the 1670s i2 

Above all, however, because Your Imperial Majesty has a desire to have some trials made in these things, it would be necessary to take into service a loyal, honest, and knowledgeable subject, whom Your Imperial Majesty could tmst with the processes of such worthless vagabonds, and who, privately and secretly, could in silence faithfully work out the processes and report on them to Your Majesty. If this does not happen. Your Imperial Majesty will never get to the bottom of this, nor understand the nature of these things, but instead will always be duped by these scoundrels. 

who does Doktor Becher have in mind as the Emeror s expert Becher biographer Pamela H. Smith notes ironically that Becher s portrayal of the selfish and gain-seeking projector resembles remarkably his own situation ten years ear-lier.  

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