Text.BP357.A2r/Translation
To the most noble and most learned man, distinguished by the antiquity of his lineage and the highest brilliance of his virtues, Lord Bruno Karl von Uffeln, hereditary lord of Burguffeln and most worthy General Commissary of the Hessian army, his most highly esteemed patron and benefactor, the author sends his most respectful greetings.
Since many studies of the most useful matters, which once flourished, have either altogether perished or at least been neglected, this is to be lamented, most illustrious, most noble and most learned sir, most highly esteemed patron and benefactor – above all that study in which all recognize the greatest utility to reside, namely the true study of chemistry. This was pursued so intensely in Egypt in the time of Diocletian that the emperor, as Suidas testifies, ordered all such books to be collected and consigned to the flames, lest, relying on their aid, the Egyptians might again rebel against the Romans.
Indeed, even the proper method of preparing medicines – by which, according to the teaching of the divine Hippocrates, we may swiftly, safely, and pleasantly drive away diseases – our forefathers lost together with the Egyptians to such an extent that, before its restoration (to which Theophrastus Paracelsus devoted himself alone), scarcely anyone could even have heard of it. And if any among our predecessors wished to apply themselves to this field, you would hardly find one among a thousand who thought it right to leave his experiments in writing to posterity.
This disadvantage seems to me to have a twofold cause. First, it is beyond all dispute that the nobler, more useful, and more excellent a thing is, the more laborious and difficult it is; otherwise nothing would stand out. For what is common and easy possesses no dignity; indeed, from abundance arises cheapness. But what is rare is thereby great, and the difficulty that keeps us from possessing it lies precisely therein. For to descend into the innermost recesses of nature cannot easily be achieved by anyone without great labors and vigils.
Thus it is ordained by nature that we are all inclined to turn from labor toward pleasure, and that man prefers moderate rest, in which he is nourished and grows; whereas he shuns those hidden things which require unceasing effort, by which he is worn down and diminished. Of this kind is chymiatria, of which we speak here: on account of its excellence and rarity, it has, from the time of the ancient philosophers and since the age of Diocletian, either been entirely suppressed or so entangled in fables, allegories, riddles, and obscure modes of speech that an Oedipus is required to penetrate into its innermost sanctuary.
From this it followed (to come to the second cause) that, because of its difficulty and the manifold troubles concealed within it, it was first neglected by posterity, then despised, and finally hated. For to plunge one’s tender fingers into coals, to attend diligently to the necessary preparations, and to renounce one’s ambition seemed a duty to the earlier practitioners; but later generations, through ignorance, were unable to attain this and therefore did not hesitate to inveigh against this noble art and to gnaw at it with a canine tooth.
Hence it has come about that, from age to age, it has become ever more obscure and has been rendered almost unknown to posterity. Consequently, in our own time, a great part of practitioners have not been ashamed to present it as something new and unknown to the ancients, and therefore most harmful to the human race. But if one had been willing to weigh the matter in the fair balance of reason and truth, one would surely have recognized that men of this kind – Hermes Trismegistus, Hippocrates, Democritus, Apollo, Asclepius, Machaon, and many other ancient chymiatricians, and indeed, in more recent centuries, Arnold of Villanova, Raymond Lull, and Isaac Hollandus (to enumerate all of them the brevity of a letter does not permit) – devoted themselves to this noble art, as is more clearly evident from their writings than the noonday sun.
Since, therefore, this divine study has in our age been in some measure rescued from decay and destruction by many worthy men and brought again into the open, after labors and exertions have been set aside, I have always considered it especially noble and excellent to render service to it, so that the greatest benefit might arise therefrom. Accordingly, in the year 1610, wishing also to remedy the aforementioned difficulty, I resolved to set forth the whole of chemistry methodically, to submit it to public examination at Marburg, and to call the work a chymiotechnical dissertation.
This met with such approval that Johannes Hartmann, Doctor of Medicine and at that time public professor of chymiatria, later my colleague at the Kassel court, did not hesitate to include it among those disputations which certain learned men had composed for public examination in order to obtain the highest honors in medicine and had caused to be printed. Martin Ruland the Younger, moreover, did not blush to insert my definitions into his chemical lexicon and to present them as his own.
Wherefore, upon returning from my travels, wishing to defend my work against such injuries, I resolved – now in the twenty-first year – to revise my said dissertation, to enlarge it with many chymiatric experiments, and to publish it anew together with a guide or key to the writings of Paracelsus and a discourse on the philosopher’s stone. At the same time, I decided also to bring forth my pestilential antidotary and my Urocriterium, printed three years ago at Marburg, so that by their use more persons might the better benefit the commonwealth.
For in the pursuit of deserving well, it is no small matter if someone has written something worthy of publication and has encouraged others to do the same. These two things are of such weight that whoever accomplishes either of them deserves thanks from all scholars. And this, it seems to me, I have amply attained, since my labors have pleased physicians and students to such an extent that all copies have been sold in such a manner that not even a single one can be obtained.
Hence I have often been urged by many men skilled in medicine to revise my writings and to publish them enlarged for the public good. Although, amid so many occupations, I at first deemed this task rather to be declined than undertaken, yet, moved at last also by the repeated solicitations of the printer, I could not refuse their request.
Accordingly, I have not hesitated to commit this more polished and augmented work – like a “sun emerging from a well” – once more to the press, together with the pestilential antidotary and the Urocriterium, and to append a certain golden treatise not foreign to our purpose, so that students of chemistry may use and enjoy them according to their desire.
Just as paintings delight when placed in a suitable location, but when set in poor light do not equally hold the eyes of those who behold them, so it is remarkable how greatly our actions are commended by the dignity of worthy patrons and powerful defenders, so that sometimes more seems to be present in them than truly is. Since I have always judged thus, I have not hesitated to believe that this work, which now proceeds from me, will be most pleasing to Your Excellency.
For although the greatest burden of weighty affairs rests upon Your Excellency – borne with the highest praise and the admiration of nearly all – yet even amid these occupations the cultivation of learning delights you so much that you do not disdain to read the writings of others with the greatest pleasure.
Therefore, it was not without reason that I resolved to publish these my works – formerly disfigured by certain faults, now refined by correction and enriched with excellent remedies – under the name of Your Excellency, so that what is taught concerning chemical practice might be honored by so devoted a patron.
I have dedicated them all the more willingly to Your Excellency because, for many years, you have bestowed upon me numerous and most commendable acts of kindness and are such as could bestow even greater ones. I feared, indeed, that unless I should return something – especially when the opportunity presented itself – I might incur the reproach of one of two most serious faults: either that I should be unmindful of what I had received from Your Excellency, which is wholly foreign to my nature; or that I should neglect what might be hoped for, which, being the mark of pride, is far removed not only from my fortune but also from my will.
Receive, therefore, most illustrious sir, this work in the spirit in which it is offered, and defend it with your authority most vigorously against the malevolent enemies of chymiatria. If you do so, I shall obtain from Your Excellency that our study is approved by many, and I shall consider my labors to have been rewarded with no small fruit.
May Your Excellency, together with your most noble family, flourish for many years in health, safety, and prosperity.
Given at Kassel, on the day before the Kalends of May, in the year of human redemption 1634.
Your Excellency’s most devoted servant,
Johannes Rhenanus
