Nicolas Flamel

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Nicolas Flamel (French: [nikɔla flamɛl]; c. 1340 – 22 March 1418) was a French écrivain public, a draftsman of public documents such as contracts, letters, agreements and requests, at a time when few people could write and read. He and his wife also ran a school that taught this trade. Long after his death, Flamel developed a reputation as an alchemist thought to have created and discovered the philosopher's stone and to have thereby achieved immortality. These legendary accounts first appeared in the 17th century. According to texts ascribed to Flamel almost 200 years after his death, he had learned alchemical secrets from a Jewish converso on the road to Santiago de Compostela. He has since appeared as a legendary alchemist in various fictional works. In modern historical publications Flamel is also often referred to as a copyist of manuscripts and a book seller, but research by M. and R. Rouse has demonstrated that this is not correct and that the very few historical documents that...

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