This early work by Arthur Edward Waite was originally published in 1937 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Secret Tradition in Alchemy - its Development and Records' contains a wealth of information on the history of alchemy and includes chapters on alchemy in China, the myth of Flamel, the chariot of Basil Valentine, and much more. Arthur Edward Waite was born on the 2nd of October, 1857 in America. Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of western occultism - viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of proto-science or as the pathology of religion."