Written in 1477 as a wise father's handbook for his son, Thomas Norton's The Ordinal of Alchemy is the great poem of English alchemy — part practical manual, part spiritual testament. In seven chapters it leads the reader through the true master's art: discerning honest teachers from frauds, the secret matter of the philosophers' stone, the slow and subtle management of fire, the signs and seasons of the work, and the final making of the elixir. Norton is witty, shrewd, and reverent by turns, warning against the greed that undoes so many seekers while insisting that the work is finally a discipline of patience. This faithful modern-English edition keeps the music and meaning of the original while making it inviting to today's readers, and it includes a helpful introduction, glossary, and reading guide. The Ordinal still speaks to anyone drawn to the soul's slow transmutation into something truer. Part of The World Scriptures Library.