The Alchemy web site on Levity.com

Newsletter No. 20 of alchemy and hermetic books

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ALCHEMY AND HERMETIC MAILING LIST

NEWSLETTER No 20 - July 1998

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The response to my hand-coloured prints announced
in the last newsletter has been rather disappointing,
as I have only sold about 12 of these. The last order
was placed on 15th June, so I have not sold any
for over a month. Consequently I must review my
production of these prints, as I cannot afford to devote
so much time to this project.
I was hoping this project might have paid its way, but instead
I have spent nearly three months of my time producing items
that nobody wants to purchase, even though the price seemed
reasonable.
I have now decided to withdraw these from sale and
keep them for myself or for exhibitions.

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/alchemy/amcldraw.html
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I am current working on a number of new titles for the Magnum
Opus series, though it will be some months before these
are completed. I have bound up some further copies of the
existing stock and these can be purchased through

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/alchemy/magnum_opus.html

The new binding method means that I have been able to reduce
prices a little.

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The response to my request that people purchase books
on alchemy through my Barnes and Noble links has been rather
poor. To date I have earned $40 in two months!

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/b&nbooks.html

I was hoping that this arrangement might have raised some
more funds to help sustain the research that lies behind the
alchemy web site, but it appears not to be working out. The
costs of running the web site are considerable, and yet
everything is provided free! Apart from my time, which I do
not account for, there are many ongoing costs. For example,
yesterday I paid out over $100 for photocopies of early books
which I intend to have transcribed and translated.

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I have recently reorganised the alchemy e-mail discussion groups
in order to tighten up the discussions and make them more scholarly,
less speculative and more relevant to alchemy. From June the
alchemy e-mail groups were more rigorously moderated, and any
posting deemed unsuitable was posted out onto the unmoderated
alchemy forum. Both these e-mail listservers each have over 300
subscribers, with about 100 people belonging to both the moderated
and unmoderated list. This system seems to be working well, though
it does take up at least another hour of my day, but I am willing to make
the time available in order to have sensible and relevant discussions
about alchemy. Some of the threads of discussions can be seen
in the archives on the web site.

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/new_mail.html

With my best wishes,

Adam McLean