Elias Ashmole

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Elias Ashmole (23 May 1617 – 18 May 1692) was an English antiquary, politician, astrologer and alchemist. Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, Ashmole fought as a Royalist officer during the English Civil War, serving in the artillery of Lord Astley's regiment at the rank of captain. Following the Stuart Restoration of Charles II in 1660 Ashmole was rewarded with several lucrative offices. In his later years, he collected notes on his life in diary form to serve as source material for a biography. His diary was posthumously published in 1717. Ashmole was an antiquary with a strong Baconian leaning towards the study of nature. His library reflected his intellectual outlook, including works on English history, law, numismatics, chorography, alchemy, astrology, astronomy and botany. Although he was one of the founding Fellows of the Royal Society, a key institution in the development of experimental science, his interests were antiquarian and mystical as well as scientific. He was an early...

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