An Alchemist in Greenland: Hans Egede (1686–1758) and Alchemical Practice in the Colony of Hope

“None of Them Could Say They Ever Had Seen Them, but Only Had It from Others”: Encounters with Animals in Eighteenth-Century Natural Histories of Greenland

“…In Egede's Perlustration [4], the detailed observational accounts of local flora, fauna, and human encounter and exploitation were accompanied by an equally detailed narrative of his own alchemical activity. Egede's acquisition of information about the natural resources of Greenland infused his accounts of experiments with alchemy, but that same process by which personal knowledge was obtained and exploited also turned the Perlustration into a visual and textual map of the materials that could be exploited by colonists, traders, and the Danish crown [49,50]. The third chapter of the book [4] The nature of the soil, plants, and minerals of Greenland presented historical and literary evidence for the fertility of the land, painting a picture that was then qualified by the process of personal observation.…”

“…By comparison, Chapter 17 [4] Of the Greenland Trade, and whether, in promoting it, there is any Advantage to be expected was couched in a more optimistic tone; if the old lands, formerly inhabited and manured by the Norway colonies, repopulated with men and cattle, Egede claimed, "they would, without doubt, yield as much as either Iceland or Feroe." As far as trade was concerned, "if we once became masters of this trade, as it in justice belongs to us" it would be as profitable as any [49,50]. Egede was prepared to use personal encounter to criticise traditional assumptions, and to make a direct appeal to the interests of his patrons.…”