Short Fiction · Chapter
Von Kempelen and His Discovery explained
The narrator offers a personal account of Von Kempelen, the discoverer of a method to transmute lead into gold, correcting public misconceptions and detailing his acquaintance with the inventor.
What happens
The narrator offers a personal account of Von Kempelen, the discoverer of a method to transmute lead into gold, correcting public misconceptions and detailing his acquaintance with the inventor. He discusses the influence of Sir Humphrey Davy's diary on the discovery, dismisses rival claims (such as Mr. Kissam's), and recounts the dramatic arrest of Von Kempelen in Bremen, where police found him with chemical apparatus and a trunk full of what appeared to be brass but was likely gold.
Themes in this chapter
Ambition and Pride
Von Kempelen's secretive pursuit of the transmutation and the narrator's critique of false claimants like Mr. Kissam highlight the pride and ambition driving scientific discovery.
Art and the Artist
The chapter explores the creative process of scientific discovery, comparing Von Kempelen's work to artistic invention and noting the importance of practical demonstration over mere speculation.
Characters to notice
- Von Kempelen
The now-immortal inventor of the transmutation process; described as short, stout, with blue eyes and a Roman nose, born in Utica, New York, of Presburg descent; arrested on suspicion of forgery but found with chemical apparatus and a trunk of gold-like metal.
- Unknown Narrator
The first-person narrator who had a casual acquaintance with Von Kempelen at Earl's Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, and provides personal details and commentary on the discovery.
- Mr. Kissam
Claimant to the discovery, from Brunswick, Maine; the narrator dismisses his story as apocryphal and moon-hoaxy.
Key passages
“I verily believe that his last moments would have been rendered wretched, could he have suspected that his wishes in regard to burning this Diary (full of crude speculations) would have been unattended to; as, it seems, they were.”
I truly think Sir Humphrey Davy would have been miserable in his final moments if he knew his diary of rough ideas wasn't burned as he intended.
The narrator emphasizes Davy's desire to suppress his speculative notes, which later inspired Von Kempelen.
“Von Kempelen, however, is by no means 'a misanthrope,' in appearance, at least, whatever he may be in fact.”
Despite rumors, Von Kempelen does not look like a misanthrope, though his true nature is uncertain.
The narrator corrects a misimpression from a translated German article, portraying Von Kempelen as genial.
“It seems to me quite incredible that any man of common understanding could have discovered what Mr. Kissam says he did, and yet have subsequently acted so like a baby—so like an owl—as Mr. Kissam admits that he did.”
I find it hard to believe that someone smart enough to make such a discovery would then behave so foolishly, as Kissam himself describes.
The narrator dismisses Mr. Kissam's claim as implausible due to his lack of follow-through.