The Financier — Translated Hermetic Theory Into Central Banking
Scottish merchant, founded the Bank of England (1694). Institutionalized fiat currency backed by government debt — a mechanism that mathematically creates wealth from nothing. The ultimate alchemical Great Work achieved through monetary architecture.
The Invisible College and Hartlib Circle (1640s-50s) were obsessed with Baconian reform and the creation of a 'Bank of Credit'. Paterson translated these theoretical frameworks into operational central banking.