2023-12-31-accounts - Society For The History Of Alchemy And Chemistry

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SHAC		Trustees' Annual Report for the period	Trustees' Annual Report for the period	Trustees' Annual Report for the period	Trustees' Annual Report for the period	Trustees' Annual Report for the period	Trustees' Annual Report for the period	Trustees' Annual Report for the period
	From	Period start date			To	Period end date
		1	JAN	2023		31	DEC	2023

Section A	Reference and administration details

Charity name SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF ALCHEMY AND CHEMISTRY Other names charity is known by SHAC Registered charity number (if any) 1190304 Charity's principal address 45 THE DRIVE ISLEWORTH Postcode TW7 4AA

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
	F A J L JAMES	CHAIR (Officer)
	R A JOHNSTONE	TREASURER (Officer)
	A E WOODMAN	AMBIX SECRETARY (Officer)
	B T MORAN	JOURNAL EDITOR (Officer)
	C A COBBOLD	MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY (Officer)
	C J CAMPBELL	SOCIETY SECRETARY (Officer)
	A LYKKNES
	J M RAMPLING
	T E NUMMEDAL
	P J FORSHAW
	J WILSON
	H CHANG
	V M QUIRKE
	D G HEDESAN

TAR

January 2024

15 T TAAPE 16 L M PRINCIPE 17 P J RAMBERG Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser Name Address




Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Constitution (CIO registered 08.07.20 and operational from 01.01.21). Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) Association of 293 members (number at year end 2023). How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company)

With 42 days’ clear notice before each AGM of the Society, the Trustees Trustee selection methods will advise members of the Society of the identities of – (eg. appointed by, elected by) (a) Trustees who wish to continue as such and under the Constitution are permitted to do so without reappointment at the AGM; (b) Trustees who wish to continue as such and are seeking reappointment at the AGM as required by the Constitution; and (c) nominees of the existing Trustees for new appointments as Trustees at the AGM –

and members of the Society will be invited to make further nominations. Such further nominations must be made with the written consent of the nominee and with no less than 28 days’ clear notice before the AGM.

TAR

January 2024

Trustees serve for 3 years after which they retire or are re-elected subject to competitive nomination. The trustees may fill casual vacancies but their choice must be ratified at the next AGM.

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

A Risk Register, including measures put in place to minimise risk, was approved by the Trustees at the Council meeting on 18.03.22.

No fraudulent activity has been detected during the year.

policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
relationship with any related parties;
trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

TAR

January 2024

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)	The scholarly study of all aspects of the history of the chemical sciences (including alchemy), the holding of meetings for the presentation and discussion of scholarly papers, either on its own or in conjunction with other learned societies, and the publication of relevant material, especiallyin the Journal of the Society,currentlycalled_Ambix_.
	The trustees in 2023 have had due regard to guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission. The trustees believe that a broad understanding of the history of the chemical sciences (including alchemy) is of benefit to the public by helping them to understand the place of chemistry in society and culture over the centuries. As a learned society it aims to advance education, the arts, culture, heritage and science through scholarly and/or curatorial activity relating to the history of alchemical and chemical science in any part of the world. Specifically, the charity achieved this by the following: The charity’s scholarly journal_Ambix_has for over 80 years been a major means of academic scholarly exchange, and therefore is of public benefit. It is sold to institutions and libraries, as well as distributed to members (annual membership fee is £40, reduced to £30 for retired members of 10 years’ standing and to £25 for students). There were 44, 805 downloads of articles published in_Ambix_and its back catalogue (dating from 1937) from 1 January 2023 through to 31 December 2023.The net surplus from membership subscriptions and this publishing activity (together with any donations and interest on deposits), supports a range of further activities benefiting the public:– (i) The Society provides study grants to members who are students, early career researchers and independent scholars (membership being open to anyone). (ii) The Society organises and funds scholarly meetings, workshops, seminars and webinars, attendance at which is not confined to members. (iii) The Society’s substantial newsletter_Chemical Intelligence_is available free to the general public online; it advertises and reports not only the Society’s events and activities but those of other organisations involved in the history of alchemy and chemistry. The Society also maintains a website with similar objectives. (iv)Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry,_an occasional supplement to _Ambix, is available at no extra cost to full institutional subscribers to the relevant annual volume of_Ambix_and to members subscribing for the relevant year. (v) The Society’s Morris Award, Partington Prize, and Oxford Part II Prize are awarded to scholars from time to time regardless of whether they are members of the Society.

Summary of the objects of the
charity set out in its governing
document
Summary of the main activities
undertaken for the public
benefit in relation to these
objects (include within this
section the statutory
declaration that trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public benefit)

The scholarly study of all aspects of the history of the chemical sciences
(including alchemy), the holding of meetings for the presentation and
discussion of scholarly papers, either on its own or in conjunction with
other learned societies, and the publication of relevant material,
especiallyin the Journal of the Society,currentlycalled_Ambix_.

The trustees in 2023 have had due regard to guidance on public benefit
published by the Charity Commission. The trustees believe that a broad
understanding of the history of the chemical sciences (including alchemy)
is of benefit to the public by helping them to understand the place of
chemistry in society and culture over the centuries. As a learned society it
aims to advance education, the arts, culture, heritage and science through
scholarly and/or curatorial activity relating to the history of alchemical and
chemical science in any part of the world. Specifically, the charity achieved
this by the following:
The charity’s scholarly journal_Ambix_has for over 80 years been a major
means of academic scholarly exchange, and therefore is of public benefit.
It is sold to institutions and libraries, as well as distributed to members
(annual membership fee is £40, reduced to £30 for retired members of 10
years’ standing and to £25 for students). There were 44, 805 downloads
of articles published in_Ambix_and its back catalogue (dating from 1937)
from 1 January 2023 through to 31 December 2023.The net surplus from
membership subscriptions and this publishing activity (together with any
donations and interest on deposits), supports a range of further activities
benefiting the public:–
(i) The Society provides study grants to members who are students, early
career researchers and independent scholars (membership being open to
anyone).
(ii) The Society organises and funds scholarly meetings, workshops,
seminars and webinars, attendance at which is not confined to members.
(iii) The Society’s substantial newsletter_Chemical Intelligence_is available
free to the general public online; it advertises and reports not only the
Society’s events and activities but those of other organisations involved in
the history of alchemy and chemistry. The Society also maintains a
website with similar objectives.
(iv)Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry,_an occasional supplement to
_Ambix, is available at no extra cost to full institutional subscribers to the
relevant annual volume of_Ambix_and to members subscribing for the
relevant year.
(v) The Society’s Morris Award, Partington Prize, and Oxford Part II Prize
are awarded to scholars from time to time regardless of whether they are
members of the Society.

TAR

January 2024

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

The charity continues to rely heavily on the contributions of volunteers, without whose efforts the Charity would be unable to operate.

policy on grant-making;
policy programme related investment;
contribution made by volunteers.

TAR

January 2024

Section D Achievements and performance

On Wednesday 3 May 2023, the Society held its AGM on Zoom. Summary of the main achievements of the charity Meetings during the year All SHAC meetings are open to both members and non-members of the Society. In some cases a small charge may be made to contribute towards costs. It was decided that SHAC’s spring meeting would be a specific session of the 13th International Conference on the History of Chemistry held at the University of Vilnius between 23 and 27 May. The session, held on the 24th, ‘New Approaches to the History of Chemistry’, was designed to show the broad range of topics covered by SHAC. The speakers were Meagan Allen, Sarah Lang, Adrian Wilson, Frank James and Anna Simmons. As SHAC had provided significant support for the conference and attendees, the Society was frequently acknowledged in many other sessions. SHAC’s autumn one day meeting was held on 25 November at University College London on the theme of ‘Alchemy and Chemistry in the Long Eighteenth Century.’ This illustrated the continuity in practice and content between alchemy and chemistry during that century. The speakers were: Malika Basu, Hjalmar Fors (remote), Armel Cornu (who was also presented with the Partington Prize), Mieke Adriaens and Pieter Beck, Anna Simmons, Nicholas Zumbulyadis (remote), John Christie and Hasok Chang. The Society arranged five on-line seminars covering a wide range of topics in the history of alchemy and chemistry. Speakers were: Eric Scerri, Alison McManus, Gabriele Ferrario, Adrian Wilson, Kelley Wilder. Publications Ambix: The Society published four issues of its scholarly journal Ambix in 2023. February 2023 (Vol.70, No.1) was a Special Edition Gold and Mercury, Amalgamated Histories in Chemistry, Chemistry, Culture, And Environment, guest edited by Donna Milak, and included papers by Vincenzo Carlotta and Matteo Martelli, Donna Bilak and George Vrtis, Sebastian Rubiano-Galvis, Jimena Diaz Levia and Ruth Goldstein and also Peter Oakley. May 2023 (Vol.70, No.2) Amateur Science and Innovation in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Barry Sturman and David Garrioch. George E Davis: Editing the Chemical Trade Journal, 1887-1906. Peter Reed Deciphering the Hermeticae Philosophiae Medulla: Textural Cultures of Alchemical Secrecy. Megan Piorko, Sarah Lang and Richard Bean August 2023 (Vol.70, No.3)

TAR

January 2024

Section D Achievements and performance

When Ben met Mary: The Letters of Benjamin Thompson, Reichsgraaf von Rumford, to Mary Temple, Viscountess Palmerston, 1793-1804. Frank A.J.L. James November 2023 (Vol.70, No.4) The Articles of Alchemy and Chemistry: Past, Present, and Ideas for the Future. Umberto Veronesi Gershom Bulkeley, “Saltbox Science”, and the Colonial New England Laboratory. George D. Elliott Sense and Utility in the New Chemistry. Armel Cornu. (Partington Prize) During 2023 Bruce T. Moran was editor of Ambix with Viviane Quirke and Peter J. Ramberg as Associate Editors and Tillmann Taape as Book Reviews Editor. Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry : Work on the next issue is actively underway. The next issue of Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry (Gabriele Ferrario's edition of On Alums and Salts by Pseudo-Rāzī ) went into production in 2023.

Chemical Intelligence: Two issues of the Society’s newsletter were published in 2023, in February and August. Both were edited by Karoliina Pulkkinen. This publication advertised and reported not only the Society’s events, but those of other organisations involved in the history of chemistry. It was distributed to members by email and was made available free to the public online.

SHAC Graduate Network

The SHAC graduate network fosters interdisciplinary exchange among graduate students and early career scholars from any field whose work engages with the history of alchemy and chemistry.

To this end, in 2023, the SHAC Graduate Network continued to foster interdisciplinary exchange among early career scholars and planned its 14[th] annual postgraduate conference, titled “Uncovering The Secrets of the Universe” for St. John’s College in January 2024, with Joshua Werrett as conference organiser.

The Partington Prize

The winner of the 2023 Partington Prize was Dr Armel Cornu of Uppsala University for her entry “Senses and utility in the New Chemistry". The prize-winning article was published in the November 2023 Ambix. The Prize is awarded every three years for an original and unpublished essay on any aspect of the history of alchemy or chemistry. SHAC Award Scheme

The Society invited applications for funding under its Award Scheme with a deadline of 31 May 2023. Following consideration by a committee, Research Awards (for which both early career scholars and independent scholars are eligible) were approved as follows:

TAR

January 2024

Section D Achievements and performance

Anatrini, Leonardo Università degli Studi di Firenze From Ether to God Award: £1000 Basu (Ghosh), Malika, Kalna College, University of Burdwan, India History of Pharmaceuticals in India Award: £1000 Coughlin, Sean Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague Practices of Perfume Production in the Ancient World Award: £950 Elmer, Hannah Colombia University, USA Fire, Arts, Past and Futures Award: £1000 Gennermann, Paulina Bielefeld University, Germany Connecting and Demarcating scientific environments: the development of pharmacology in the second half of the Twentieth Century. Award: £1000 Kamalova, Sofiya University of Valencia, Spain Oral History: Collecting Voices from Ardystil Case Award: £289 Moenius, Thomas Re-enacting Alchemical Recipies Award: £800 Silva Baptista, Vanessa University College, London, UK Playful experimentation in Medieval chemistry: The case of 88 natural experiments of Rasis Award: £760 Villa, Eugenio University of Bologna, Italy An alchemist at work in 17C France: retracing the origin and sources of the Fondo Caprara. Award: £920 Zotov, Sergei University of Warwick, UK Alchemical iconography as mediator of knowledge on the example of European manuscripts of the 15[th] and 16[th] Centuries.

TAR

January 2024

Section D Achievements and performance

Award: £970

The Society continued its series of free online seminars open to all, with recordings placed on SHAC’s YouTube Channel.

AD HOC

In 2023 AD HOC held a mix of in-person and online meetings (total of 9). Sometimes we had presentations followed by Q&A, and sometimes we had discussions of pre-circulated texts, often with the authors joining us to discuss their works, including the following scholars: Catherine Jackson, Jennifer Rampling, Gary Patterson, Carmen Schmechel, Donna Bilak, Hasok Chang, and Sofiya Kamalov. All meetings were organised in or from Cambridge, with the exception of a special meeting at UCL with artist Kat Austen at the UCL Art Museum on 17 July. On 17 May we held an online round-table hosted jointly with the Commission on the History of Chemistry and the Molecular Sciences (IUHPST), through the initiative of Sarah Hijmans.

The Oxford Seminar in the History of Alchemy and Chemistry The seminars took place between 3 May and 14 June, and comprised five sessions organised thematically and chronologically. The organisers were Jo Hedesan (Oxford) and John Christie (Oxford).

TAR

January 2024

Section E Financial review As a8reed at Council in March 2023 the maximum level of reserves Is unchan8ed from that agreed at council 1813/22 {£140,0(MJl owin8 to the continuing uncertainty regardingfuture ioumal subscription Income created by open access 'plan S. and the position of hybrid journals such as AMBIX. The knock-on effects for the Covid pandemic continued to suppress clalms made against agreed award5 and wlll do so In 2024. The achieved reserves In 2023 were £105.668. which is within the limit. Brlef statement of the charws pollcy on reserves Detalls of any funds materfally In defldt No fund is In deficlt Further finda1 re¥1 detalls (Wonal Informatlon) You may choose to Indude addltional inforniatlon, where relevant about: the charltvs prlnclpal sources of funds (Induding any fundralslng); how expendUre has supported the key objectlves of the charlty: Investment policy and oblectlves Includlng any ethical Investment pollcy adopted. Soction F Other optionril Inform<ltion Section G Declaration The tru5tee5 declare that they have approved th• trust. report •bove. Sned on behalf of the dHrlrfs trustees Snaturels) Full namels) Posftkyn le8 Secretary. awlr. Frank AJ.LJames Chalr 19 Marth 2024 TAR 10 J*)uw 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Charity Name No (if any)
Society for the History of Alchemy and 1190304 incorporating 313777 CC16a
Chemistry modified to
list 2
Receipts and payments accounts restricted
For the period Period start date Period end date funds
To
from 01-Jan-23 31-Dec-23
Section A Receipts and payments
Restricted
Unrestricted Restricted
fund: Morris Total funds
fund: General fund: Sources
Prize
Prior Year
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Membership subcriptions for 2023 4523 4523 5085
Membership subcriptions for 2024+ 5530 5530 6030
Ordinary Society meetings 180 180 544
One-off special projects 0 0 643
spare line 0 0
Journal Ambix: Fixed payment and
16520 16520 14604
royalty on sales
0 0
Sources supplement to Ambix: royalties
Donations 39 39 0
Gift aid 0 0 0
Interest 231 34 3 268 24
Miscellaneous 0 0 0 0
Sub total (Gross income for
27023 34 3 27060 26930
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales
None 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
Sub total 0 0 0 0 0
Total receipts 27023 34 3 27060 26930
A3 Payments
Administration
3477 3477 4136
Ordinary Society meetings 912 912 1384
One-off special projects 0 0 500
spare line 0 0
Ambix editorial expenses 2530 2530 863
Sources supplement to Ambix: printing,
publication, and distribution 0 0
Awards, prizes, and grants 11287 0 11287 6695
Archiving 0 0 0
Bank and Paypal charges 507 0 507 527
Miscellaneous 0 0 0 0 0
Sub total 18713 0 0 18713 14105
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table) 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
Sub total 0 0 0 0 0
Total payments 18713 0 0 18713 14105
Net of receipts/(payments) 8310 34 3 8348 12825
A5 Transfers between funds 0 0 0 0 0
A6 Cash funds last year end 111489.06 16613.00 1417.00 129520 129520
Cash funds this year end 119800 16647 1420 137867
----- End of picture text -----

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Vnrestrlded fund: General R•strlct4d lund: Sources Restrictsd fun(f: Morrls Prfze Detalls to nwarBst£ to nure¥t £ B1 Cash fund8 01 Paypal acGDunl 13913 1933 165 NS&I Invesbnenl 27412 325 16941 2354 201 60952 8470 722 11 16647 14211 Unrostriclad fund$ R•strktod lund Sourc•8 Ro8trlctad fund Morrls Prlz Details UrK•JhwJ incfffjry rthoques to Mr•st£ Fynd to Whkh Curwent value DetaI15 Ca•t IW4)n411 B3 Inv•stm•nt a•s•t• Fund to whkh tb• Curr•nt v4lu• lonal Details ¢oAt lo010nl 84 A888ts retalned for the charlty's own us• Fund to whl¢h f• Jrwnt (optlrjnI 5,53Q Whon du• loptlonnll B5 Llabllltlos M8rnbornhip > 2023 hf#fK dn 20TJ n?T 7.850 gen•rnl hyputh•WrAI wfvd. up vl Stsclty Eypenses ktp)wn to have teen Incwred during or reStiThJ I)rn 2023 not yet in¥oiced to SHAC Unrestrtcbj: gener 732 Signed by one or IFUSt8es behaK of al the trustees Date of roval Signattj Print Nam8 AfyIA TrJooOrO4tsJ Iq-03-2+ iC_o3-2* Thè Charity a) has given no g[lts8 any piten1k liablty ur¥Jwth8 guam¥8 is LNts11ThJ at t1 Ilaie of tIx8 8tatem8nL 8nd bl has no debt out5tsn(ling 4t the date d tras 1$ by the Ch) ar¥J 15 U[j by an eywss ¢haTr on ofthe assets ofth8 CIO.

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Charity Name members of Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry

On accounts for the 31/12/2023 Charity no 1190304 period ended (if any) Set out on pages 1 to 2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the period ended 31/12/2023.

Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Date: 20 March 2024 Signed: Name: Susan Elizabeth Ambrose Relevant professional FCCA FCA qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: Butt Miller Limited 1 Minster Court, Tuscam Way, Camberley, Surrey GU15 3YY

October 2018

IER

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

No items to disclose.

October 2018

IER