The Twelve Gates * George Ripley (fbn press)
Ripley again. Here with some poem-like philosophical alchemical texts: 12 gates. “From The Compound of Alchemy, 1592”.
Ripley again. Here with some poem-like philosophical alchemical texts: 12 gates. “From The Compound of Alchemy, 1592”.
Two texts by the famous alchemist. A fairly long text holding the middle between theoretical/spiritual and practical alchemy.
Of the famous Ripley scroll there are 21 copies left in two versions, 17 in the main version, 4 in a variant. The work contains beautiful drawings, with aside those a poem-like text. Some of the more famous alchemical drawings come from this text and in this booklet you get them in an agreeable black and white quality.
Perpetual Fires, Luminous Substances and Phosphorus
containing:
Everburning Lights of Trithemius
Alchemical Fire in a Flash & Glow from Glow-Worms (John French, The Art Of Disillation, 1651)
The Bologna Phophorus (Vincenzo Casciorola of Bologna, 1602)
Balduin’s ‘Phosphorus’ (Christian Adolf Balduin [1632-1682])
The Preparation of Phosphorus
Rosicrucian Thoughts on the Ever-Burning Lamps of the Ancients (by W. Wynn Westcott)
As you can see this booklet is a compilation of texts about ever-burning lights. Some are informative, other instructive. Something that we will see more lateron.
One Hundred fifty three chymical Aphorisms. Octob. 1687
One hundred fifty seven alchemical canons Octob. 1687
Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont
A new famous alchemist in the line, this time the famous Belgian son of an alchemist who names his son “Mercurius”. Two texts with similar (al)chemical aphorisms (short lines) displaying a nice overview of the philosophy of alchemy.
Of the Division of Chaos (Simon Forman (1552-1611)
Admonitio de Pseudochymicis (Thomas Rawlin 1611)
An Alchemical Mass (Melchior Cibinensis 1602)
Hermetic Catechism of Baron Tschoudy 1766
The first text is a short, alchemical poem. The second “a waning to false chymists or the philosophical alphabet”, a strange text with heavy alchemical symbolism. Then we get an even stranger text, some kind of alchemical prayer. The last is a long Q&A with is very informative and very interesting, but I personally very much dislike reading Q&As. The text goes from theory to practise and philosophy, of alchemy of course.
(Janus Lacinius Therapus, The Calabrian, from Pretiosa Margarita Novella…1546)
This is a very nice booklet combining the theory, practise and symbology of alchemy. It has several images.
It was not uncommon in the Renaissance that alchemists/magicians were acquinted with the royal house and Ripley seemed to have know King Edward IV. In this texts he tries to write about alchemy understandably. This was not only interesting for the King of times past, but also for the student of today.
The Coelum Philosophorum or book of Vexatations
The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists.
The Book concerning the tincture of the philosophers
Three alchemical writings by noone less than Paracelcus. This booklet is very interesting. The first article deals with the theory of alchemy, the second with the philosophy of alchemy and the third with the practise of alchemy.
“Printed for William Cooper […] London, 1683”. Also by George Ripley (1415?-1490), but this time an alchemical instruction-handbook.