Thomas Vaughan (philosopher)

Thomas Vaughan (17 April 1621 − 27 February 1666) was a Welsh philosopher, now remembered for his writings in the area of natural magic.

A Royalist clergyman from Brecon, Wales, Thomas was the twin brother of the poet Henry Vaughan, both being born at Newton, in the parish of St. Briget's, in 1621. He entered Jesus College, Oxford, in 1638, and remained there for a decade during the English Civil War.

Vaughan took part in the Battle of Rowton Heath in 1645. He became rector of the parish of Llansantffraed (St. Briget) Wales and took up medical studies, motivated by the lack of doctors in Wales. But in 1650, Vaughan was evicted from the parish because of his Royalist sympathies.

Vaughan later became involved with a plan of Robert Child to form a chemical club, with a laboratory and library, the main aim being to translate and collect chemical works. He married his wife Rebecca in 1651 and spent the next period of his life in London. His wife died in 1658.

Vaughan died at the house of Samuel Kem, at Albury, Oxfordshire.

Although he did not practice medicine, Vaughan sought to apply his chemical skills to preparing medicines in the manner recommended by Paracelsus. He corresponded with Samuel Hartlib, who by 1650 was paying attention to Vaughan as author, and established a reputation with his book Anthroposophia Theomagica, a magico-mystical work. Vaughan was the author of tracts published under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes, as is now generally agreed.

Vaughan was unusual amongst alchemists of the time in that he worked closely with his wife Rebecca Vaughan. He was a self-described member of the "Society of Unknown Philosophers", and was responsible for translating into English in 1652 the Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis, an anonymous Rosicrucian manifesto first published in 1614 in Kassel.

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