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Laura Gibbs

Open Participants 2017, The Network

Library. Aurora Consurgens.

Title: Aurora Consurgens (Wikipedia)Edition: 15th-century ms.Online Source: e-codicesI feel so lucky to have discovered this book online! Here's how I found it: Sandy Brown Jensen shared a lovely morning song at the Twitter for #NetNarr, and that inspired me to see what I could find by Googling Aurora (the goddess of dawn) and alchemy. And look what Google led me to: Aurora Consurgens: "The Aurora consurgens is an alchemical treatise of the 15th century famous for the rich illuminations that accompany […]

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Week 1: Alchemical Library going strong

So, knowing the start of the semester would be a whirlwind, I made a plan for this blog last week: Some Alchemical Goals... and I stuck to the plan! Whoo-hoo!I really don't know how much time I will have for the daily creates etc. in this #NetNarr adventure, but I am very glad and grateful that it is helping me to fix this ENORMOUS gap in my education. I'm still working on the Atalanta Fugiens emblems one by one (I […]

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Latin Reader (12): Arbor inest hortis Sophiae

OH MY GOSH: look what Sandy Brown Jensen has done with this! It's a beautiful story to go with the beautifully re-colored image: The Greenhouse: An Alchemical Fable. A must-read! :-)I already did Emblem VIII (about the egg), so today I can move on to Emblem IX from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Arbor inest hortis Sophiae. It features a famous mythological motif — golden apples — and the alchemical quest to extend human life (a very modern obsession also).Arborem cum sene conclude […]

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Library. Stoltzius. Hortulus hermeticus

Title: Hortulus hermeticus = The Hermetic GardenHortulus hermeticus flosculis philosophorum cupro incisis conformatus, & breuissimis versiculis explicatusAuthor: Daniel Stoltzius von Stoltzenberg (Wikipedia)Edition: 1627Online Source: Hathi TrustI would like to find a cleaner scan of this if I can, but I have not had any luck. The little emblems for the philosophers are so fascinating! I'll just do the first two here; this is a book I could really enjoy working on from start to finish. There are 160 of these […]

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Library. Stoltzius. Viridarium chymicum

Title: Viridarium chymicum = A Chemical Pleasure-GardenAuthor: Daniel Stoltzius von Stoltzenberg (Wikipedia)Edition: 1624Online Source: e-Rara (Jung Foundation: Alchemy, Magic and Kabbalah)This is another fantastic emblem book; I have done just the first 50 emblems here; I will post the other 50 tomorrow. Unfortunately, this books is hard to find, but I just now learned how to access the page views at eRara, where there are higher-res images than in the PDF! Yes!!!

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Library. Maier. Scrutinium Chymicum (= Atalanta Fugiens)

Title: Scrutinium Chymicum = A Chemical InvestigationSecretioris naturae secretorum scrutinium chymicum : per oculis et intellectui accuratè accommodata, figuris cupro appositissimè incisa, ingeniosissima emblemata, hisque confines, & ad rem egregiè facientes sententias, doctissimaque item epigrammata, illustratumAuthor: Michael Maier (Wikipedia)Edition: 1687Online Source: Hathi TrustThis is a later edition of the Atalanta Fugiens (notably without the music!), and it is the nicest printed and scanned edition that I have found online. I have been working through the emblems one by one, and now that […]

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Library. Horapollo. Hieroglyphs

Title: Hieroglyphika Ori Apollinis = Horapollo's HieroglyphsHōrou Apollōnos neilōou Hieroglyphika. Ori Apollinis niliaci, De sacris notis & sculpturis libri duoAuthor: Horapollo (Wikipedia)Edition: 1551, with engravings reproduced from French edition of 1543Online Source: Hathi TrustThere are many editions of the hieroglyphs of Horapollo, and I thought this was a very nicely illustrated edition. It has both Greek and Latin texts. Here are just a few of the engravings: gorgeous!

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Library. Dee. Monas hieroglyphica

Title: Monas hieroglyphica = The Hieroglyphic MonadAuthor: John Dee (Wikipedia)Edition: 1564 (?)Online Source: Hathi TrustThe book has its own article at Wikipedia. Here is an excerpt from that article:The Hieroglyphic embodies Dee's vision of the unity of the Cosmos and is a composite of various esoteric and astrological symbols. Dee wrote a commentary on it which serves as a primer of its mysteries. However, the obscurity of the commentary is such that it is believed that Dee used it as a […]

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Roos: browsing for books

So the time over winter break ran away with me, and there is so much in the Roos book that I have not looked at, so what I am going to do today, before the semester's wildness really takes hold tomorrow, is to look through as much of Roos today as I can, noting likely books that I can try to seek out online later and add to the Alchemical Library. :-)Agrippa of Nettesheim, De occulta philosophia 1510De alchimia, 1526Peter […]

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Latin Reader (11): Pullus a nido volans

Today, it's Emblem VII from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Pullus a nido volans. Last time, we had an agricultural allegory, and now Maier turns to the world of nature for an allegory. The theme is the combination of contrary elements.Pullus a nido volans, qui iterum cadit in nidum.The chick flying from the nest, who again falls back into the nest.For a hand-colored version, see Adam McLean's website: Emblem VII.(image source)(image source)And here's the poem:Rupe cava nidum Jovis ALES struxerat, in quoDelituit, […]

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Library. Maer. Arcana arcanissima

Title: Arcana arcanissima = The Most Secret SecretsArcana arcanissima, hoc est, Hieroglyphica aegyptio-graeca : vulgo necdum cognita, ad demonstrandam falsorum apud antiquos deorum, dearum, heroum, animantium, & institutorum pro sacris receptorum, originem, ex vno Aegyptiorum artificio, quod aureũ animi et corporis medicamentum peregit, deductam, vnde tot poëtarum allegoriae, scriptorum narrationes fabulosae et per totam encyclopaediam errores sparsi clarissima veritatis luce manifestantur, suaeq[ue] tribui singula restituuntur, sex libris exposita / authore Michaele MaieroAuthor: Michael Maier (Wikipedia)Edition: 1614Online Source: Hathi TrustSince I […]

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Library. Khunrath. Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae

Title: Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae = The Amphitheater of Eternal WisdomAmphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, solius verae, christiano-kabalisticum, divino-magicum, nec non physico-chymicum, tertriunum, catholicon / instructore Henrico KhunrathAuthor: Heinrich Khunrath (Wikipedia)Edition: 1609Online Source: eRara Alchemy, Magic and Kabbalah Here is what Wikipedia says about the book:His most famous work on alchemy is the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom), a work on the mystical aspects of that art, which contains the oft-seen engraving entitled "The First Stage of the Great Work", better-known as the "Alchemist's Laboratory". […]

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Latin Reader (10): Seminate aurum vestrum

Today, it's Emblem VI from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Seminate aurum vestrum. Last time, I had skipped ahead to do the egg, so now I going back to where we left off.Seminate aurum vestrum in terram albam foliatam.Sow your gold into the white, leafy earth.For a hand-colored version, see Adam McLean's website: Emblem VI.And here's the poem:Ruricolae pingui mandant sua semina terrae,Cum fuerit rastris haec foliata suis.Philosophi niveos aurum docuere per agrosSpargere, qui folii se levis instar habent:Hoc ut agas, illud […]

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Some Alchemical Goals

Eeeek. The winter break is over, melted away like the snow, and leaving not a trace behind. Modern alchemy: I need to find a philosopher's stone that will create TIME, not gold. But by exploring some alchemy over the break, I realized that there are SO MANY BOOKS online that are potentially of interest, and I also fell in love with Maier's Atalanta fugiens, with its emblems, music, poetry, and commentary.And what to do now? I need to set some […]

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