Trevisan, Bernard

An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)

This Italian alchemist's life was a curious and intensely pathetic one. Bent on discovering the philosopher's stone, he began at an early age to lavish huge sums of money on the pursuit; but again and again he was baffled, and it was only when old age was stealing upon him, and he had disbursed a veritable fortune, that his labours were crowned with some measure of success. Bernard Trévisan, Comte de la Marche, was born in the year 1406 at Padua, a town whose inhabitants were famous for erudition throughout many centuries in the middle ages . His father was a doctor of medicine, so it is probable that Bernard received his initial training in science at home; while ere he was out of his teens he began to devote himself seriously to alchemy, having been lured thereto by reading the works of the famous Eastern philosophers, Geber and Rhasis. Bernard's father was rich, and accordingly, whenever it was known that the young man was minded to dabble in gold-seeking, he found himself surrounded by charlatans offering counsel; and his very first experiments resulted in his spending upwards of three thousand crowns, the bulk of which sum went into the pockets of the youth's fraudulent advisers. He was not discouraged, however; and, finding new henchmen, and at the same time augmenting his learning by a close study of the writings of Sacrobosco and Rupecissa, he proceeded to make a new series of attempts. But these also proved futile, once more the alchemist did no more than enrich his assistants, and in consequence he vowed that henceforth he would prosecute his researches single-handed. Bernard now engaged in a long course of sedulous reading, while he also began to give much time to prayer, thinking by this means to gain his desired end; and anon. he started fresh experiments, expending on these some six thousand crowns. But again his devotion and extravagance went unrewarded, year after year went by in this fashion, and betimes Bernard realised that he was past the prime of life, yet had achieved nothing whatsoever. His bitter disappointment engendered an illness, but scarcely was he restored to health ere he heard that one Henry, a German priest, had succeeded in creating the philosopher's stone; and thereupon Bernard hastened to Germany, accompanied by various other alchemists. After some difficulty they made the acquaintance of the cleric in question, who told them he would disclose all would they but furnish a certain sum of money to procure the necessary tools and materials; so they paid as desired, yet having devoted much time to watching the German at work they found themselves no nearer the goal than before. This last piece of quackery opened Bernard's eyes, and he proclaimed his decision of eschewing hermetic philosophy altogether in the future-a decision which was warmly applauded by his relatives, for already his researches had cost a king's ransom. But it soon transpired that the alchemist was quite incapable of clinging to his resolution, and, growing more ardent than ever, he visited Spain and Great Britain , Holland and France , trying in each of these countries to enlarge his stock of learning, and to make the acquaintance of others who were searching like himself. Eventually he even penetrated to Egypt, Persia and Palestine, while subsequently he travelled in Greece, where he witnessed many alchemistic researches; yet all proved vain, and ultimately Bernard found himself impoverished, and was forced to sell his parental estates. Being thus without so much as a home, he retired to the Island of Rhodes, intending to live there quietly for the rest of his days; but even here his old passion continued to govern him, and, chancing to make the acquaintance of a priest who knew something of science, the thwarted and ruined alchemist proposed that they should start fresh experiments together. The cleric professed himself willing to give all the help in his power, so the pair borrowed a large sum of money to admit of their purchasing the necessary paraphernalia; and it was here, then, in this secluded island, and while in a literally bankrupt condition, that Bernard made the wonderful discovery with which he is traditionally credited. Doubtless the tradition has little foundation in fact, yet at least the philosopher deserved some reward for his indomitable if foolhardy perseverance, and it is pathetic to recall that his death occurred soon after the day of his triumph. In contradistinction to the majority of his brotheralchemists, Bernard appears to have loved actual experiments much better than writing about them. It is probable however, that he was at least partly responsible for an octavo volume published in 1643, Le Bernard d'Alchmague, cum Bernard Treveso; while he is commonly credited with another work also, La Philosophic Naturelle des Metaux. Herein he insists on the necessity of much meditation on the part of the scientist who would create the philosopher's stone, and this rather trite observation is followed by a voluminous alchemistic treatise, most of it sadly obscure, and demonstrating the author no great expert.