Page:Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus Vol I (IA cu31924092287121).djvu/21

Rh Nature. Thus it included the philosophy of creation, and dealt with the first matter as developed into the universe by Divine Power. It included also the natural evolution which takes place round us, whether in the formation of metals within the earth, or the formation of animals in the matrix. Finally, it included the development by man's skill and art of whatsoever was capable of improvement in the products of Nature. Thus the Hermetic and Alchemical writings of Paracelsus have a wider scope than might at first be inferred from the title. The purpose of this translation is altogether of an unpretentious kind. It aims at providing, and that for the first time, a complete and faithful text of all that Paracelsus is known or supposed to have written on the subject of alchemy and Hermetic medicine. It does not attempt to distinguish between the works which have been falsely attributed to him; concerning this question there are no satisfactory canons of criticism, for those which have been indicated by the old author of the Onomastikon are of an arbitrary and unpractical kind. A careful reader will probably regard with suspicion the "Aurora of the Philosophers," at least in its present state, and he will possibly reject altogether the treatise "Concerning the Spirits of the Planets." There is nothing else in these volumes, except the uncertain "Manual," which from internal evidence is unlikely to have been the work of Paracelsus, and it is unnecessary to enter into the question which has been raised by some of his biographers as to his employment of scribes under him, who reduced his dictations to writing and have possibly maltreated their master. The text which has been adopted for translation is the Geneva folio, in four volumes, 1658, in Latin. The bizarre mixture of Latin and old German in which Paracelsus originally wrote presents many difficulties with which it is unnecessary to grapple, as the Latin collected edition appears to represent in a very satisfactory manner both the letter and the spirit of the originals.

It seems also desirable to state that a comparison of the medical and chemical knowledge possessed by Paracelsus with the chemistry and medicine of to-day is outside the purpose of this edition, because it is outside possibility within the limits of two volumes. There is no doubt that it would be an interesting as well as an important task to establish the exact position of Paracelsus, not only as regards modern knowledge, but as regards the science which preceded him, and it is hoped that such a work will be ultimately performed. Should this translation be regarded as final by students, or at least as a satisfactory foundation for a full and complete comprehension of the sage of Hohenheim, and should the encouragement which is indispensable to an undertaking so long and costly be adequately given, it is proposed, after a reasonable interval, that these two volumes of uncriticised text should be followed by one other which will contain all the materials requisite for understanding Paracelsus, and will further trace, methodically and historically, the development of alchemical symbolism, with the growth of chemical knowledge from the Byzantine period to the dawn of the Reformation. It is