Story highlights The Chemical Heritage Foundation has acquired one of Isaac Newton's handwritten manuscripts

Newton studied alchemy extensively; parts of alchemy were later rebranded as chemistry

(CNN) Harry Potter wasn't the only one after the philosopher's stone.

Isaac Newton's recently discovered manuscript is his handwritten copy of mid-17th-century Harvard alchemist George Starkey's procedure for producing "sophick mercury," a substance seen as a main ingredient for the philosopher's stone, a fabled stone used in alchemy.

The document had been in private hands for most of the 20th century. The Chemical Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit based in Philadelphia, acquired the 17th-century document through an auction in February.

"The significance of the manuscript is that it helps us understand Newton's alchemical reading -- especially of his favorite author -- and gives us evidence of one more of his laboratory procedures," said James Voelkel, curator of rare books at the Chemical Heritage Foundation's Othmer Library of Chemical History.

Newton, who established the law of universal gravitation and is considered a father of physics, also studied alchemy extensively. It is estimated that he wrote 1 million words in notes on alchemy during his lifetime.

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