Archidoxis magica

also:
Archidoxis magice
Archidoxia magica/
Medicina coelestis/
Magische Archidoxen/
Magia Theophrasti

I. Basic information

Printing History, Manuscripts. A work composed of seven books. The first four books were first printed in a Latin translation by Gerhrard Dorn in 1570 under the title Medicina cœlestis sive de signis Zodiaci et mysteriis eorum in Aureoli Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi De summis Naturae Mysterijs Libri tres. They were next published in German in 1571 by Pietro Perna under the title De signis Zodiaci et ejus mysteriis in De spiritibus planetarum sive metallorum Doctoris Theophrasti Paracelsi ab Hohenheim: Libri III. – Book VI was first edited in 1572 by Michael Toxites under the title Liber sextus Archidoxiae Magicae de Compositione Metallorum in Zwen Tractatus Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi. – Books I and VII were first printed (together with Book VI) in 1572 by Pietro Perna under the title Liber V De Speculi Constellatione and Liber VII Archidoxis Magice De Sigillis Planetarum in Archidoxorum […] Theophrasti Paracelsi X. Bücher. Only Huser printed all seven books together as a whole. – Many manuscripts. According to Sudhoff the manuscripts in Nürnberg and Wolfenbüttel have a more complete text than the printed versions. The Praha (olim Osseg) manuscript is closely related to the sources used by the early editors in a way that has yet to be determined. The Braunschweig manuscript (owned by historian of pharmacy Wolfgang Schneider during the 20th century) has a Hutterite background not known to Schneider; it is a copy from a manuscript written by Leonhard Gagasser. Many manuscripts have only single books of the Archidoxis magica.

Editions. Edited by Huser, 10 (1590): Appendix, 66–138. Edited by Sudhoff in Paracelsus, Sämtliche Werke, I/14: 437–498.

Relationship between different versions. Further study required.

Structure, genre/form, perspective, style.

Relationship to other texts. Further study required.

Authenticity, authorship. Huser expressed doubts on the authenticity of this treatise, echoing the opinion of others, but decided to include it amongst the other texts of the Appendix of vol. 10, at least “until we have more certainty about who the author is,” “as it is not alien to Paracelsus’s material and many have accepted and acknowledged it as his work.” Sudhoff had “not the least doubt” that the Archidoxis magica were spurious. Wolfgang Schneider held at least parts of the Archidoxis magica to be authentic, while Goldammer considered the Archidoxis magica a “compilation from authentic Paracelsian works” and at the same time “a creative achievement on its own”.

Time of writing. Probably written in the 1560s.

II. Sources

Manuscripts:

German

• Braunschweig, Universitätsbibliothek: Nat. A 139, f. 145r–170r [written by Adam Bien after a copy from Leonhard Gagasser; in the 20th century in the library of Wolfgang Schneider]
• Dessau, Landesarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt: Z 70, A 17a Nr. 105c
• Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek: Chart. B 1211, f. 10r–12v
• Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek: Cod. alchim. 192, f. 57r–88r
• Heiligenkreuz, Stiftsbibliothek: Ms. 334, f. 63r–83v
• Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 16, f. 87v–88r [fragment]
• Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 24, f. 144r–145r
• Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 35[4, f. 29v [fragment]
• Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 60[8,2, f. 35r [fragment]
• Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 72, f. 237v–243r
• Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 87, f. 61r–62r [fragment]
• Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 96, 169–187
• Kopenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek: Thott 737 kvart
• München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: cgm 6145; 52 fols.
• München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: cgm 9544, f. 4r–77r
• Nürnberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum: Hs. 9829; 150 fols.
• Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal: Ms. 8007; 78 fols.
• Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal: Ms. 8008
• Praha, Národní knihovna: Osek 43, f. 17r–19v, 44r–49r, 66r–70v, 73r–78v
• Seitenstetten, Stiftsbibliothek: Cod. 69 [lost]
• Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek: Cod. Guelf. 115 Blank.; 78 fols.
• Wrocław/Breslau, Biblioteka Uniwersytecka: R 2317, on 108–184 [probably copied from a printed edition]

English

• London, British Library: Sloane MS 3822
• London, British Library: Sloane MS 3648

First printed:

• 1570 (Latin; “Medicina coelestis sive de signis Zodiaci et mysteriis eorum”, in Aureoli Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi De summis Naturae Mysterijs Libri tres, ed. Gerhard Dorn (Basel: Pietro Perna, 1570); VD16 P 565; Sudhoff, Bibliographia Paracelsica, 209–211 n° 125) [books 1–4]
• 1571 (German; “De signis Zodiaci et ejus mysteriis”, in De spiritibus planetarum sive metallorum Doctoris Theophrasti Paracelsi ab Hohenheim: Libri III (Basel: Pietro Perna, 1571); VD16 P 567; Sudhoff, Bibliographia Paracelsica, 224–226 n° 134) [books 1–4]
• 1572 (German; “Liber sextus Archidoxiae Magicae de Compositine Metallorum”, in Zwen Tractatus Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi, ed. Michael Toxites (Strasburg: Bernhard Jobin, 1572); VD16 P 611; Sudhoff, Bibliographia Paracelsica, 237–239 n° 141) [book 6]
• 1572 (German; “Liber VI. Archidoxis Magice” and “Liber VII Archidoxis Magice De Sigillis Planetarum”, in Archidoxorum […] Theophrasti Paracelsi X. Bücher (Basel: Pietro Perna, 1572); VD16 P 396; Sudhoff, Bibliographia Paracelsica, 239–241 n° 142) [books 5–7]

Historical Manuscript Catalogues: Catalogus Osek (Prague) 2, n° 5; Widemann, Verzeichnisse (Kassel), n° II, 24 / I, 6, 206; Thomasius (1699), on 137; Arpe (1726), on 121; Jahn (1754–1758), 3: 152 n° 206

III. Bibliography

Essential bibliography: Sudhoff, Bibliographia Paracelsica, 407; Sudhoff, Paracelsus-Handschriften, 776; Sudhoff, “Vorwort,” in Paracelsus, Sämtliche Werke, I/14: XXV–XXVIII; CP 3: 503.

Further bibliographical references:

Franz Spunda, Das Weltbild des Paracelsus (Vienna, 1941), 218–244.

Karl Anton Nowotny, “Zur Geschichte der astrologischen Medaillen,” Numismatische Zeitschrift, 74 (1951), 100–104 + Tafel III.

Peuckert, Pansophie (1956), 476, 500.

Peuckert, Gabalia (1967), 162, 197–205, 212, 216, 219, 224–232, 280, 328, 429, 547, 566, 572, 573.

Will-Erich Peuckert, “Paracelsische Zauberei,” Nova Acta Paracelsica, 8 (1957), 71–94, on 86.

Hartmut Rudolph, “Bemerkungen zum sogenannten Jenichen-Flugblatt,” Nova Acta Paracelsica, 9 (1977), 205–211, on 207.

Wolfgang Schneider, Paracelsus – Autor der Archidoxis Magica? (Braunschweig, 1982).

Kurt Goldammer, “Neues zur Frage der Paracelsischen Spuria,” Review of Wolfgang Schneider, Paracelsus – Autor der Archidoxis Magica?, Sudhoffs Archiv, 68 (1984), 235–239.

Willem Frans Daems, Review of Wolfgang Schneider, Paracelsus – Autor der Archidoxis Magica?, Gesnerus, 41 (1984), 179.

Carlos Gilly, Spanien und der Basler Buchdruck bis 1600. Ein Querschnitt durch die spanische Geistesgeschichte aus der Sicht einer europäischen Buchdruckerstadt (Basel, 1985), 34.

Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke, Astrologisch-magische Theorie und Praxis in der Heilkunde der frühen Neuzeit (Stuttgart, 1985), 84–85.

Louise Gnädinger, “Paracelsus, der Magier vom Etzel. Deutungsversuch eines Flugblattes (Anfang 17. Jahrhundert),” Nova Acta Paracelsica, N.F. 6 (1991–1992), 2–20, on 9–11.

Goldammer, Der göttliche Magier (1991), 65, 104–105.

Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke, “Magische Medizin bei Paracelsus und den Paracelsisten,” in Peter Dilg and Hartmut Rudolph, eds., Resultate und Desiderate der Paracelsus-Forschung (Stuttgart, 1993), 43–55.

Kurt Goldammer, “Probleme der deutero-paracelsischen Schriften am Beispiel der Magie,” in Heinz Dopsch, Kurt Goldammer and Peter F. Kramml, eds., Paracelsus (1493–1541) (Salzburg, 1993), 353–355.

Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke, “Die Magie des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts im Spannungsfeld von Naturwissenschaft und Dämonologie,” in Herbert Jaumann, ed., Domänen der Literaturwissenschaft (Tübingen, 2001), 269–280, on 271–272.

Bruce T. Moran, Andreas Libavius and the Transformation of Alchemy. Separating Chemical Cultures with Polemical Fire (Sagamore Beach, MA, 2007), 271–273 (on weapon salve).

Ute Frietsch, “Zwischen Transmutation und Transsubstantiation. Zum theologischen Subtext der Archidoxis-Schrift des Paracelsus,” Nova Acta Paracelsica, N.F. 19 (2005), 29–51, on 39–40.

Hereward Tilton, “Of Electrum and the Armour of Achilles: Myth and Magic in a Manuscript of Heinrich Khunrath (1560–1605),” Aries, 6 (2006), 117–157, on 128–129.

Karl Möseneder, Paracelsus und die Bilder. Über Glauben, Magie und Astrologie im Reformationszeitalter (Tübingen, 2009), 142–143.

Broszinski, Manuscripta chemica in quarto (2011), 52, 82, 129, 285, 297, 323, 363, 382.

Matthias H. Rauert and Martin Rothkegel, Katalog der hutterischen Handschriften und der Drucke aus hutterischem Besitz in Europa, vol. 1 (Gütersloh, 2011), 654–660.

Kathrin Pfister, “Kenelm Digby (1603–1665) und das ‘sympathetische’ Pulver – ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der pseudo-paracelsischen Waffensalbe,” Nova Acta Paracelsica, N.F. 27 (2016), 47–66.