Preface, no date (1578), Gerhard Dorn to the Reader (BP181)
| Author: | Gerhard Dorn |
| Recipient: | Reader |
| Type: | Preface |
| Date: | no date [1578] |
| Pages: | 2 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Quote as: | https://www.theatrum-paracelsicum.com/index.php?curid=2114 |
| Editor: | Edited by Julian Paulus |
| Source: | Paracelsus, De restituta vtriusque Medicinae vera Praxi, ed. Gerhard Dorn, Lyon: Jacques du Puys 1578, sig. *6r–*6v [BP181]
|
| CP: | Not in Kühlmann/Telle, Corpus Paracelsisticum |
| Translation: | Raw translation see below |
| Abstract: | In this preface to the reader, the author expresses his intent to compile Paracelsus' scattered Practica into one comprehensive work. He discusses the challenges faced in translating and organizing the material and the support he received from Prince Francis of Valois. Dorn's goal is to make the knowledge more accessible to readers and to help the sick, not only in Germany but worldwide. He assures the reader that he will proceed to Theorica once Practica is complete and asks for their patience and understanding. (generated by Chat-GPT) |
| Back to Paratexts Back to Texts by Gerhard Dorn |
[sig. *6r] Girardi Dorn ad lectorem præfatio.
Mirabere fortassis amice lector, Paracelsi Practicam, vt immensam penè molem in atomum redigi. Si tamen considerabis quo tendat hoc nostrum studium, Spero non ægrè te laturum, neque hosce meos labores improbaturum, quos in tui gratiam libenter subij. Videbam enim his diebus elapsis, cum essem in Gallia, plerosque de confusa huius scriptionis serie conqueri, nec immeritò. Verum ipsos latuit vix millesimam partem scriptorum istius autoris, in lucem hactenus prodiisse eamque mutilam & suius membris dissutam, vt vix liceret fragmenta seu micas de mensa decidentes, colligere. His tanisper fruimur donec maiora contingant Consiliauit nobis Omnipotens Dominus. Illustrissimi Principis Francisci Valesii Regij filij nunc in Gallia fauorem ea in re non exiguum, cuius virtutibus & autoritate licebit in Gallia quandoque videre de Paracelso longè maiora & præstantiora monumenta his quæ non sine aliquot Germanorum nostrorum increpatione eo detuli. Dicebant isti non debere me arcana Germani viri extra solum natiuum, ad alias nationes diripere traductionibus. Qui, quod viderent ab incœpto non desistere me, sed eo alacrius progredi, non sat scio quo ductu, c&oelig,perunt & ipsimet, istius viri libros vertere. Quod quidem accidisse mihi iucundius posse, video nihil, quam ex parte conatus meos porro euehi, quo potissimum spectant vtpotè, nedum in Germania verum etiam per totum orbem terrarum (si fieri posset) vt ægris fraternê subueniatur. Sed redeam vndè digressus [sig. *6v] Ea fuit animi mei sententia, Practicam videlicet variis dispersam libellis in vnum colligere: quo domi lector agens, velut ex indice mox reperias, quo loco de singulis morbis autoris mentem in Theorica debeas consuere: vel peregrê, hic vnico tantum perficere ac si reliquos tecum ferres. Quamobrem ad singula recepta, marginem satis amplam tibi reliqui, in qua liceat, ex Theoria depromptas annotationes calamo adscribere pro arbitrio: iuxta quem etiam ordinem, vt hunc reliquos alios Practices atque Theoriæ libros destinaui (deo dante,) perficiendos. Nec in eo solum tibi prospectum satis esse putaui, quin etiam vbi quid obscurius occurrat elucidatione quadam, pro captu reuelatum sit, & interpretatiunculis. Mox atque Practicam absoluere, cuius primum librum hunc habes, ad ipsam Theoricam pergere me videbis: eo siquidem ordine seruato, quem autor noster instituit, potissimum in re medica, in qua hanc ex illa, vt ex luce naturæ petendam, inuictissimis sustinet argumentis. Interea benigne lector, his vtere pro tuis, & fruere, tantisper, dum plura paramus. Quæ si hæc tibi grata esse percepero, diutius tardare non sinam, atque nobis eorum sit copa. Vale, meque tibi, non secus ac te huic professioni deuinctum esse sciam, habeto.
English Raw Translation
Generated by ChatGPT-4 on 22 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.
Gerhard Dorn's Preface to the Reader.
Perhaps you will be amazed, dear reader, at seeing Paracelsus' Practica, as an immense mass reduced to an atom. However, if you consider the purpose of our study, I hope you will not be displeased, nor disapprove of the efforts I have willingly undertaken for your sake. For I saw, in these past days while I was in France, that many complained about the confusing order of this writing, and not without reason. But they hardly knew that hardly a thousandth part of the works of this author has come to light so far, and that in a mutilated and disjointed form, so that it was hardly possible to gather the fragments or crumbs falling from the table. We will enjoy these until greater things are granted to us by the Almighty Lord. The illustrious Prince Francis of Valois, the royal son now in France, has granted no small favor in this matter, and by his virtues and authority, it will be possible to see far greater and more excellent monuments to Paracelsus in France than those which I have brought there, not without the reproach of some of our Germans. They said that I should not steal the secrets of a German man, born on native soil, and bring them to other nations through translations. However, as they saw that I did not desist from my intention but proceeded more eagerly, I do not know by what guidance, they themselves also began to translate the books of this man. Indeed, I see that nothing could have happened more pleasing to me than that my efforts should be carried forward in part, which is their primary goal: not only in Germany but also throughout the whole world (if it were possible) to help the sick in a brotherly manner.
But let me return to the subject at hand. My intention was to collect the scattered Practica in various booklets into one, so that the reader at home can quickly find, as if from an index, where to weave together the author's thoughts on individual diseases in Theorica, or when traveling, complete this single work as if carrying the others with them. Therefore, for each remedy, I have left you a sufficiently wide margin in which you may, at your discretion, write down annotations derived from Theorica. Following this order, I have intended (God willing) to complete the remaining books of Practica and Theorica. And not only did I think that this would be sufficient foresight for you, but also, wherever something more obscure occurs, it is revealed with some explanation, and interpretations.
As soon as I have finished the Practica, of which you have this first book, you will see me proceed to Theorica itself: for, by following the order established by our author, especially in medical matters, he supports with invincible arguments that this knowledge must be sought from that, as from the light of nature. In the meantime, kind reader, use these for your own purposes, and enjoy them for now, while we prepare more. If I perceive that these are pleasing to you, I will not delay any longer, and let there be abundance for us. Farewell, and consider me, no less than yourself, devoted to this profession.
