Dedication, 1572-03-01, Benedictus Aretius to Wigand Happel
| Author: | Benedictus Aretius |
| Recipient: | Wigand Happel |
| Type: | Dedication |
| Date: | 1 March 1572 |
| Place: | Basel |
| Pages: | 5 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Quote as: | https://www.theatrum-paracelsicum.com/index.php?curid=2010 |
| Editor: | Edited by Julian Paulus |
| Source: | Anonymous [Paracelsus], De medicamentorum simplicium gradibus et compositionibus, opus nouum, ed. Benedictus Aretius, Zürich: Christoph Froschauer d.J. 1572, sig. A2r–A3v [BP139]
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| CP: | Not in Kühlmann/Telle, Corpus Paracelsisticum |
| Translation: | Raw translation see below |
| Abstract: | The author is sending a book to a distinguished person who he believes is the most suitable to be its patron. He recounts his experiences during the war, his friendship with his roommate, and their shared interest in the study of herbs. The author also mentions his acquaintance with several doctors and their gardens. He asks the distinguished person to support the book and not deny his patronage. Finally, he asks those who may be offended by the book to respect their freedom to pursue their studies and use their own judgment. (generated by Chat-GPT) |
| Back to Paratexts Back to Texts by Benedictus Aretius |
[sig. A2r] Ornatissimo viro domino Vvigando Happelio L[egis canonici et] L[egis civilis] doctori, & Hebraicæ linguæ professori doctissimo in Academia Marpurgensi, B[enedictus] Aretius S[alutem] D[icit].
Cvm libello huic quærendus esset patronus, nemo te aptior ad hanc tutelam, mihi visus est. Nam quod me attinet, nomini tuo plurimum debeo: quod verò ipsum libellum, apud vos in meas peruenit manus. Itaque ipsa ratio dictabat, vt Hessis eum restituerem, & in restitutione eius haberem rationem, cuius in me plurima extarent merita. Id quomodo ad te, vir clarissime, pertineat, audi. Erit enim hæc rerum commemoratio, non minus tibi, quàm mihi iucunda, vt spero, & simul constabit, vnde libellus ad me peruenerit. Cum Hessiam studiorum gratia ac cederem, prima mihi tecum fuit familiaritas, ex commendatione D[octoris] Pauli Fagij, qui te præceptore, me vti volebat in continuandis studijs Hebraicæ linguæ, quo tempore summa humanitate & beneuolentia in me vsus es. Mox cum exarsisset triste illud, & plus quàm ciuile [sig. A2v] bellum, quo tota concussa est Germania, te consultore, in Academia vestra permansi. Et quanquam Academia vestra belli faces non sentiret, erat tamen aliqua studiorum solitudo, partim quod studiosorum animi ad arma magis, quàm studia propensi essent, partim quod terror vos circumstaret, & incursio sæpius esset metuenda. Itaque alij castra Mineruæ cum Martis permutabant: alij vitæ genus: nonnulli ipsa studia si non desererent, saltem commutabant. Atque hi non eadem de causa noua sequebantur consilia. Nonnulli metu victoris, tutiora deligebant studia, alios egestas ad noua compellebat consilia, à quorum fortuna non eram ego quoque alienus. Vtebar igitur etiam tempore belli, tuo consilio & opera, non minus vtiliter, quàm ante bellum. Nam vt me alerem, & fidem meam apud bonos viros liberarem, author mihi eras, vt ad Philosophica redirem studia, & ad artes, quibus paratior est viuendi ratio proposita, ad quod me inuitabat etiam solitudo studirum, & incertus rerum euentus. Erat mihi domesticus contubernalis M[agister] Ioan[nes] Stockius medicinæ candidatus, & simplicium studiosus, qui & ipse pari mecum premebatur fortuna. Itaque intermissis seuerioribus studijs, animos ad ea referebamus, in quibus plus oblectationis, minus tædij foret, hinc [sig. A3r] herbarij & herbarum icones placere cæperunt: inde deambulationes, & cura colligendorum simplicium. In quibus studijs cum sentire inesse mirificam oblectationem, totum me illis ad tempus tradidi, præsertim duce Peripatetico, & ad deambulationes nato: nulli sunt montes, nulli colles, nulli campi, nullæ syluæ, valles, fontes, horti, loca aprica, palustria, quæ non herbarum gratia accederemus, hinc grauiores instituæ peregrinationes. VVetteras aliquoties accessimus, ad D[octorem] Pincierum propter Decij hortum. Sigenam, fama D[octoris] Æmilij excitati, qui tum Scholæ illic præerat, & hortum varijs simplicibus habebat cultissimum. Coloniam, vt videremus D[octorem] Echtium, qui Roma nuper reuersus, dicebatur, rara quædam attulisse, erat is M[agristro] Stockio notus puerili, ni fallo educatione. Sigenam postea frequenter solus iter suscepi, videbatur enim vir humanissimus, imprimis his meis delectari studijs. Itaque sæpe literis suis inuitabat me ad cæpta studia, & de suis rationibus communicabat, tùm semina, tùm flores, & folia, additis veris ex Dioscoride nominibus. Vnde mihi deinceps arctissima semper mansit cum viro doctissimo & periucunda familiaritas. Porrò Achates ille meus vt scis, paulò post compositis suis studijs, Gallias petijt, vt confirmaret studia sua [sig. A3v] praxis & titulum doctoris consequeretur. Quæ omnia illi fœliciter successère. Nam reuersus, medicinam factitauit apud Francofurtum magno successu. Discedens à me, Amoris pignus, hunc apud me deposuit libellum quem nunc ad te mitto: authorem, vt opinor, nec ipse satis nouerat, nec vnde illum haberet, satis scio, opinor ex Saxonia, vbi studiorum gratia prius versatus fuerat, aut forte ex Spira, aut VVormatia, in quibus locis complures habuit familiares.
Hæc commemoratio rerum, vir clarissime, te habet bona parte testem, & vix dici potest, quantam meritorum tuorum, mihi suscitet memoriam. Et quia Achates ille meus ad meliorem sortem ex humanis est translatus, tibi hunc defero libellum: scis enim me minime in his rebus commemorandis, ficta vti narratione: ac cedit, quod ab his studijs minimè sis alienus. Dabis igitur operam, si me amas, vt libello patrocinium tuum non denegas. Interim siquos offendit sua nouitate & παῤῥουσία, illos rogamus, vt dum suo vtuntur iudicio, bona cum venia, nobis relinquant liberum, vndecunque proficere honestis rationibus, & salua pietate. Vale vir amplissime, & me, vt facis, ama. Bernæ, Calend[is] Martij, M. D.&nbps;LXXII.
Tui studiosiss[imus]
B[enedictus] Aretius.
English Raw Translation
Generated by ChatGPT on 24 March 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 distinguished gentleman, Lord Wigand Happel, Doctor of Canon and Civil Law, and most learned Professor of Hebrew at the University of Marburg, Benedict Aretius sends greetings.
When searching for a patron for this booklet, no one seemed more suitable to me for this protection than you. As for myself, I owe much to your name, and the booklet itself has come into my hands through you. Therefore, the very reason dictated that I should return it to Hesse and take responsibility for its return, given the many merits that existed between us. How this concerns you, most distinguished sir, listen. This recollection of events will be just as enjoyable for you as it is for me, I hope, and at the same time it will be clear how the booklet came to me.
When I came to Hesse for the sake of my studies, my first acquaintance was with you, through the recommendation of Doctor Paulus Fagius, who wanted me to continue my studies in Hebrew with you as my teacher. At that time, you treated me with great kindness and benevolence. Soon after, when that sad and more than civil war broke out, which shook all of Germany, I stayed at your university for consultation with you. And although your university did not feel the flames of war, there was still some solitude in studies, partly because the minds of students were more inclined towards arms than studies, and partly because terror surrounded you, and the threat of attack was often to be feared. Therefore, some exchanged the camp of Minerva for that of Mars, while others changed their way of life or even their studies, if not abandoning them entirely. And these did not follow new plans for the same reason. Some, out of fear of the victor, chose safer studies, while others were compelled by their poverty to adopt new plans, in which I, too, was not exempt from their fate. Therefore, even during the war, I made good use of your counsel and assistance, no less effectively than before the war. For you were my patron, to support me and to ensure my good reputation among honorable men, so that I could return to my studies in philosophy and the arts, for which a more suitable way of life was proposed, even though solitude in studies and the uncertain outcome of events invited me.
I had a roommate, Master Johannes Stockius, a candidate in medicine and a student of simples, who was in a situation similar to mine. Therefore, we turned our minds to more pleasant pursuits, where there would be more enjoyment and less tedium. Hence, we began to enjoy the study of herbs and their illustrations, as well as walks and the gathering of simples. Since I felt a wonderful pleasure in these pursuits, I devoted myself entirely to them for a time, especially under the guidance of the Peripatetic philosopher and my walking companion. No mountains, no hills, no fields, no woods, no valleys, no springs, no gardens, no sunny places, no swamps were left unvisited for the sake of herbs. From this, more arduous journeys were undertaken. We went to Wetter and visited Doctor Pincier because of his garden in Decij. We also went to Sigena, because of the fame of Doctor Emilius, who was said to have the most cultivated garden of various simples and was then in charge of the school there. We also went to Cologne to see Doctor Echtium, who was said to have brought back some rare things from Rome. He was known to Master Stockius since childhood, if I remember correctly. Later, I often traveled alone to Sigena, for that very courteous man seemed to take particular pleasure in my studies. He often invited me to pursue my studies in his letters and shared his own methods, both for seeds and for flowers and leaves, with the true names from Dioscorides. From then on, I had a very close and delightful friendship with that most learned man. Moreover, as you know, my companion Achates, after completing his studies, went to France to confirm his studies with practical experience and obtain the title of doctor. All of these things turned out well for him. Upon his return, he practiced medicine in Frankfurt with great success. Before leaving me, he left this book, a pledge of his love, with me. I am sending it to you now, but I don't think he knew the author well or where he got it from. I suspect he got it from Saxony, where he had previously studied, or perhaps from Speyer or Worms, where he had many acquaintances.
This recollection of events, most distinguished sir, has you as a good witness and it can hardly be said how much it stirs up memories of your merits in me. And since my companion Achates has been transferred to a better place among humans, I give you this book: for you know that I use no fictional narrative in recounting these matters, and it is clear that you are not at all alien to these studies. Therefore, if you love me, please take care not to deny your patronage to this booklet. Meanwhile, for those who are offended by its novelty and abundance, we ask that they kindly leave us the freedom to make progress with honorable and pious intentions, while using their own judgment. Farewell, most distinguished sir, and love me as you do. Bern, on the first of March, 1572.
Most studious of you,
Benedict Aretius.
