Fulcanelli fl. The appeal of Fulcanelli as a cultural phenomenon is due partly to the mystery of most aspects of his life and works, and his disappearance. In particular, he is reputed to have twice performed a transmutation of lead into gold. This demonstration took place in a laboratory of the gas works of the Georgi company at Sarcelles , and was achieved with the use of a small quantity of " Projection Powder " also known as the Philosopher's Stone prepared by Fulcanelli.
Fulcanelli was likely a Frenchman educated in the ways of alchemical lore , architecture , art , science , and languages. Its first edition consisted of copies and was published by Jean Schemit at 52 Rue Laffitte, Paris. During , he accepted the sons of Ferdinand de Lesseps as students and in two more students: Jules Boucher and Gaston Sauvage.
In , Fulcanelli relocated to 59 rue Rochechouart where he allegedly succeeded in transmuting base metals into gold. However, most of the testimonies compiled in its historical context, between and , always designate Julien Champagne as the author, either unique or inspired by the materials of the librarian Pierre Dujols The first reference to the pseudonym dates from around and is due to Jeanne-Emilie Baheux de Puysieux , wife of the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi In , with the publication of the international bestseller The Morning of the Magicians , Pauwels and Bergier popularized the mystery of the Master Alchemist.
Without neglecting the belief of some researchers that Canseliet himself could have been Fulcanelli, Canseliet himself believed Fulcanelli's Master was Basil Valentine , an alchemist of the 15th century; the theoretical Master at least, for Fulcanelli's initiator may have been his own wife.
As Fulcanelli describes in a strange letter he kept as a talisman about the completion of the Great Work — by someone who is presumably Basil Valentine — he also mentions his own wife: " When my wife told me the good news" and " Every attempt to find him failed.
