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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 January 2024
This article explores the plurality of referents associated with the term “dragon's blood” (“sanguis draconis”), a legendary substance that brings together Greco-Roman and Arabic medical knowledge, local vernacular traditions and artisanal practices, and new Spanish and Portuguese botanical discoveries. The study of dragon's blood reveals the interface between overlapping epistemic paradigms governing the definition, use, and circulation of complex material substances in early modern Europe, ranging from humanist learned discussions and artisanal experimentation to vernacular narratives of discovery, along with the shifting criteria of truth, authenticity, and value advocated by different communities of learning and practice.
I thank Sharon Strocchia, Kate Lowe, and Kate Park for their encouragement and valuable suggestions, as well as Alina Payne and the whole Villa I Tatti community, which provided the ideal academic environment for this research. I am also grateful to Alessio Assonitis (the Medici Archive Project) for his support in advancing and disseminating my work. I also appreciate the stimulating observations and useful suggestions made by the RQ reviewers and editors of this essay, most of which I tried to follow.