Margaret Maurer is a PhD candidate in English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation, “Everyday Alchemy,” travels to kitchens, paper-mills, and beehives to explore the intersections of alchemy and the everyday in early modern (1550–1700) England. By examining recipe knowledge in vernacular manuscript and print texts, “Everyday Alchemy” considers how women and people of all social classes engaged in alchemical experimentation through domestic and craft practices, including textual production and modification.
Margaret is a dissertation fellow for the 2022–2023 academic year at the Consortium for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Her archival research has been supported by the Jerry Leath Mills Research Travel Fellowship, the UNC Medieval and Early Modern Studies Research Travel Fellowship, the UNC Graduate School Off-Campus Dissertation Fellowship, and travel grants from the Folger Shakespeare Library.