Vaughn, Thomas (1621–1665) Welsh alchemist and brother of poet Henry Vaughn. Thomas Vaughn contributed important metaphysical works to the field of Alchemy. Vaughn was born in 1621 in Newton in the parish of Llansanffraid (St. Bridget), Wales. The lack of doctors in Wales inspired him to a career as a physician. In 1638 he entered Jesus College in Oxford, where he spent a decade pursuing medical studies. During the Civil War he was a Royalist, which caused him to be evicted from his parish in 1650. In 1651 Vaughn married a woman named Rebecca. She died in 1658, and he went to live in London. Despite his university studies Vaughn never practiced as a physician but turned his interests to alchemy. He admired the work of Paracelsus. He wrote under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes, not to be confused with EIRENAEUS PHILALETHES, another pseudonymous author. His first work, Anthroposophia theomagica (“A Discourse of the Nature of Man and his State After Death; grounded in his Creator’s Promochimistry”), published in 1650, was a mysticalmagical work that received favourable attention. His last work, Euphrates or the Waters of the East, was published in 1650. Vaughn died on February 27, 1665, during one of his chemical experiments.
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley Copyright © 2006 by Visionary Living, Inc.