Subtitled, }The Man Behind The Mystery Of The Cathedrals{ HERMETIC STUDIES / ALCHEMY Fulcanelli, operative alchemist and author of The Mystery of the Cathedrals and The Dwellings of the Philosophers--two of the most important esoteric works of the twentieth century--remains himself a mystery. The true identity of the man who allegedly succeeded in creating the philosopher's stone has never been discovered, despite ardent searches by many--even the OSS (the wartime U.S. intelligence agency that later became the CIA) tried to find him following the end of World War II. Genevi趥 Dubois looks at the esoteric milieu of Paris at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, a time that witnessed a great revival of the alchemical tradition, and investigates some of its salient personalities. Could one of these have been this enigmatic man, who was reported to have last appeared in Seville, Spain, in 1952, when he would have been 113 years of age? Along the author's trail we encounter such figures as Papus, Ren頇u鮯n, Ren頓chwaller de Lubicz, Pierre Dujols, Eugene Canseliet, and Jean-Julien Champagne. Working from rare documents, letters, and archival photos, Dubois suggests that one of these men could have been hiding his activity behind the pseudonym Fulcanelli, or that Fulcanelli may even have been a composite fabricated by several of these individuals working together. Beyond its attempt to reveal the actual identity of Fulcanelli, Fulcanelli and the Alchemical Revival presents an explanation of the alchemical doctrine and reveals the unsuspected relationships among the important twentieth-century truth seekers it highlights GENEVIȖE DUBOIS, author of several books in French on alchemical and hermetic studies, is a member of the ARK'ALL Foundation devoted to the study of operative alchemy. She lives in France. Foreword ix PART 1. BACKGROUND 1. The Chain of Hermes, or the Persistence of the Science of Alchemy 2(4) 2. The Tenor of the Times 6(18) PART 2. MILIEU 3. The Art of Interpreting the Philosopher's Stone, or the Appearance of Works Signed "Fulcanelli" 24(2) 4. Pierre Dujols and the Librairie du Merveilleux 26(26) PART 3. FULCANELLI UNVEILED 5. Jean-Julien Champagne and René Schwaller de Lubicz 52(49) 6. The Legend Takes Root: Eugène Canseliet, Guardian of the Myth 101(20) APPENDICES A. Chronology of the Alchemical Revival 121(8) B. Chronology of Commander Levet; Letter from Levet to Papus 129(3) C. Chronology of René Schwaller de Lubicz 132(3) D. Letter from René Schwaller to Unknown Recipient 135(3) E. Translation of Pierre Dujols's Obituary 138(3) F. Translation of the Letter from Canseliet to Schwaller de Lubicz 141(4) G. Chronology of Eugene Canseliet (from Atorène, Le Laboratoire Alchimique, Trédaniel) 145(4) H. Natal Chart of Pierre Dujols 149(6) I. Natal Chart of Jean-Julien Champagne 155(6) J. Bibliography of the Works of René Schwaller de Lubicz 161(2) K. A Partial List of Books and Articles Discussing Fulcanelli 163(3) Notes 166(6) Index 172