Letter, no date (1527), Erasmus von Rotterdam to Paracelsus (BP043)
| Author: | Erasmus von Rotterdam |
| Recipient: | Paracelsus |
| Type: | Letter |
| Date: | no date [1527] |
| Pages: | 2 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Quote as: | https://www.theatrum-paracelsicum.com/index.php?curid=2041 |
| Editor: | Edited by Julian Paulus |
| Source: | Paracelsus, De gradibus, de compositionibus et dosibus receptorum ac naturalium libri septem, ed. Adam von Bodenstein, Mülhausen: Peter Schmidt 1562, sig. B1r-B1v [BP043]
|
| Translation: | Raw translation see below |
| Back to Paratexts Back to Texts by Erasmus von Rotterdam |
[sig. B1r] Rei medicae peritissimo doctori Theophrasto haeremitae, Erasmvs Roterodamvs S[alvtem].
Non est absurdum medico per quem Deus nobis suppeditat salutem corporis, animæ perpetuam optare salutem: Demiror unde me tam penitus noris semel duntaxat uisum, Aenigmata tua non ex arte medica quam nunquam[c1] didici, sed ex misero sensu uerissima esse agnosco. In regione hepatis iam olim sensi dolores, nec diuinare potui quis esset mali fons. Renum pinguedines ante complures annos in lotio conspexi: Tertium quid sit non satis intelligo, tamen uidetur esse probabile mihi, id molestare ut dixi: Hisce diebus aliquot nec mendicare uacat, nec ægrotare, nec mori, tot studiorum laboribus obruor, Si quid tamen est quod citra solutionem cor- [sig. B1v] poris mihi potest lenire malum, rogo ut communices, Quod si distraheris, paucissimis uerbis ea quæ plusquam laconicè notasti, fusius explices aliáque præscribas remedia quæ dum uacabit queam sumere: Non possum polliceri præmium arti tuæ studióque par, certè gratum animum[c2] polliceor. Frobenium ab inferis reuocasti hoc est dimidium mei, si me quoque restitueris, in singulis utrumque restitues, utinam sit ea fortuna quæ te Basileæ remoretur. Hæc ex tempore scripta: uereor ut possis legere, bene Vale.
Erasmus Roterodamus suapte manu.
English Raw Translation
Generated by ChatGPT-4 on 3 April 2023. Attention: This translation is a machine translation by artificial intelligence. The translation has not been checked and should not be cited without additional human verification.
To the most skilled physician, Theophrastus the Hermit, Erasmus of Rotterdam greets you.
It is not absurd for a doctor, through whom God provides us with the health of the body, to wish for the eternal health of the soul: I wonder how you know me so deeply, having seen me only once, I recognize that your riddles are not from the medical art that I have never learned, but from a miserable sense they are very true. In the region of the liver, I have long felt pains, and I could not divine what the source of the evil was. I saw the fat of the kidneys in the wash many years ago: I do not fully understand what the third thing is, but it seems probable to me, as I said, that it bothers me: These days I have no time to beg, nor to be sick, nor to die, as I am overwhelmed with so many studies and labors. If there is anything, however, that can alleviate my suffering without dissolving my body, I ask you to share it. If you are too busy, please explain in a few words the things you have noted more than laconically, and prescribe other remedies that I may take when I have the time: I cannot promise a reward equal to your art and dedication, but I certainly promise a grateful heart. You have brought Frobenius back from the dead, which is half of me; if you restore me as well, you will restore both of us in each. I wish there were the good fortune to keep you in Basel. These are written hastily: I fear you might not be able to read it, farewell.
Erasmus of Rotterdam, written by his own hand.
