Dr Zoe Screti
Zoe Screti is the Astra Foundation Research Fellow in Manuscript Studies. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Birmingham. Her thesis explores the relationship between religious reform and alchemy in early modern England, questioning what the collation, circulation, and use of alchemical manuscripts can reveal about the ways in which alchemy was shaped by the Reformation. She is particularly interested in marginalia, digital humanities approaches, social network analysis, and the relationship between literature and history. In recognition of the importance of her research, Zoe was awarded the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry’s New Scholar award in 2020. At the Voltaire Foundation, Zoe is working on the Catalogue of Manuscripts relating to Voltaire, establishing the data model for the catalogue, identifying fields for inclusion, and considering how best to link the catalogue to the wider Digital Voltaire project.
Publications
Articles
Zoe Screti, ‘A Motley to the View: The Clothing of Court Fools in Tudor England’, The Midlands Historical Review, 2 (August, 2018), pp.1-16.
Book Reviews
Zoe Screti, ‘(Book Review): Jennifer M. Rampling. The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300-1700. Synthesis. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2020. Pp.408. $35.00 (cloth)’, Journal of British Studies, 61, 2 (May, 2022) pp.480-482.
Selected Papers
‘Reformed Responses to Genesis in Early Modern Alchemical Treatises’, invited paper, Turba Discussion Group (2022)
‘The Anxious Alchemist: Thomas Charnock’s Domestic Alchemy’, Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry’s 13th Postgraduate Workshop, Online via Zoom (2022)
‘The begynyng and ending ys all one: Creation, Death, and Resurrection in Early Modern English Alchemical Treatises’, invited paper, Emphasis Seminar Series, Birkbeck, University of London (2021)
‘Alchemical Theorick and Christian Theology: The Relationship Between Alchemical Philosophy and Christian Theology in England, 1450-1640’, invited paper, AD HOC Discussion Group, University of Cambridge (2021)
‘“God maketh it sensible To some Elect, to others he doth it denay”: The Impact of Changing Soteriological Belief on Alchemical Philosophy in England, 1300-1600’, Reformation Studies Colloquium, University of Birmingham (2021)
‘Collecting and Collating: What can we Learn from Early Modern Alchemical Composite Manuscripts’, British Society for the History of Science Conference 2021, University of Toronto (2021)
‘The Alchemical Window in St Margaret’s Church, Westminster: The Changing Identity of “The Alchemist” in Early Modern England’, Created Identities Conference, University of Nottingham (2020)
‘The Impact of the Reformation on the Study and Practice of Alchemy in England, 1450-1640’, CREMS PGR Showcase (2019)
‘Alchemy in England, 1550-1640: A Network Analysis’, Swansea MEMO Symposium by the Sea: Magic, Alchemy, and Cosmology, Swansea University (2019)
Wider Audience Publications
Zoe Screti, ‘“God maketh it sensible To some Elect, to others he doth it denay”: Alchemical Philosophy in Calvinist Contexts’, The Northern Early Modern Network (2021), [https://earlymodernnetwork.wordpress.com/2021/10/02/god-maketh-it-sensible-to-some-elect-to-others-he-doth-it-denay-alchemical-philosophy-in-calvinist-contexts-by-zoe-screti].
Zoe Screti, ‘Margaret Clitherow, the Pearl of York’, Historic UK (2017), [https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Margaret-Clitherow].