Text.Duclo.1598-01.!2r
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Source: Gaston Duclo, Apologia crysopoeiae et argyropoeiae adversus Thomam Erastum Doctorem et Professorem Medicinae, ed. Bernard Gilles Penot, [Geneva]: Eustache Vignon (heirs), 1598, sig. ¶2r–¶5r [BP.Duclo.1598-01]
Summary: Penot begins by expressing his intention to offer Prince Maurice a book that he has not authored but feels compelled to publish and dedicate. He emphasizes that his actions are not meant to claim the work of others as his own but to share valuable knowledge. Penot recounts how he came into possession of the work through Johann Bartholomä Burggrav, who gifted it to him with the condition that he publish it for the benefit of others. Penot describes his dedication to reading and annotating the book, convinced that the author intended for it to be shared with those devoted to learning.
Penot reflects on the current state of alchemy, lamenting the prevalence of impostors and sophists who deceive even the highest ranks of society with fraudulent practices, tarnishing the reputation of genuine alchemy and causing harm to the public and the state. He asserts his efforts to combat these issues by publishing genuine works, including the book in question, to preserve the integrity of the alchemical arts.
Penot deliberates on whose patronage to seek for the book and decides on Prince Maurice, citing the illustrious history and virtues of the Landgrave of Hesse family. He praises Prince Maurice's knowledge, linguistic skills, and expertise in Chymical Philosophy, deeming him a worthy patron.
In conclusion, Penot dedicates the book to Prince Maurice as a token of gratitude and respect, hoping it will be well-received and contribute to the Prince's ongoing pursuit of knowledge. He expresses concern about potentially revealing alchemical secrets but trusts that the content will benefit the discerning and knowledgeable. (generated by ChatGPT)
Text
Impudentis profectò, non probi viri, sit (Illustriss[ime] Princeps) aliorum sibi opera vendicare, eaque pro suis ædere. Huius igitur libri quem Seren[issimo] T[vo] Celsitvdini audeo offerre, cùm author non sim: imo is sit alterius, qui eius partes aliquas ante suum è viuis excessum quibusdam viris consecrarit, ne Plagiearius censear, aut temeritatis iure argui possim, Illvstriss[ime] T[vae] Celsit[vdinis] consilij mei de edendo, déque illi offerendo libro rationes exponere constitui. Franckentalii annis ab hinc plus minus tribus agens, cùm iucundissima fruerer consuetudine Iohan- [sig. ¶2v] nis Bartholomæ Bvrggravii. Landtscribæ Nostadiensis, viri Doctrina, & pietate ornatissimi, quíque scripta mea præsertim Apologiam pro Paracelso aduersus Thomam Erastum, & alios candidatos, negantes Metalla quoquo modo parata, humanæ naturæ prodesse, legerat. Is aliquando à me quæsiuit, Num Doctiss[imi] Gastonis Clauei librum aduersus Thomam Erastum legissem. Neganti id mihi, librum ipsum non modo obtulit, sed etiam in perpetuum amicitiæ monumentum dono dedit: ea tamen lege, vt lectum in publicum ederem: affirmans primam eius partem nulli hactenus consecratam. Accepii cum libro conditionem, missisque aliis omnibus, seriò lectioni incubui. Et inter legendum Marginales annotationes addidi. Cumque ex seria lectione deprehendissem authoris animum fuisse, non in tenebris librum abdere, sed omnibus scientiæ filiis ipsum communicare, vt libro 2. cap[itulo] 38. & circa huius Apologiæ finem author testatur (in- [sig. ¶3r] quiens) quod si ea quæ prioris quæstionis, & confirmationis stabiliendæ gratia scripsi vobis, qui hæc perlegetis, grata intellexero. De cæteris quoque quæstionibus, Deo O[ptimo] Max[imo] fauente, luculentius posthac aliquid editurum esse. Idque abstrusum magis, & maiori admiratione dignum, omniumque vtilissimum: & alibi idem author, Forsitan qui hæc perlegent ante aut post obitum nostrum nostri memores erunt. Cùm hæc animaduertissem à quibuscunque potui typographis percunctatus sum, num typis excususm alicubi scirent. Hoc cum inficiarentur, eximios tanti viri labores diutius latere, & Chymicæ studiosos eorum lectione priuari æquum non esse existimaui. Et est reuera, hoc nostrum seculum impostoribus plenum, qui nec ipsis Principibus, ne dum infimæ sortis hominibus parcunt. Video enim Reges, & Magnates ab istis Agyrtis decipi, qui ementitas & sophisticas chymiæ artes, pomposa specie vendentes, illos argento emungunt: vnde fit, vt ingens [sig. ¶3v] numerus, tum sophistarum, tum sophisticarum fraudum, quotidie oriatur, ob quas, ars chymiæ laudatissima, non solùm detrimentum patitur, opprimitur, adulteratur, ipsíque chymistæ inuisi omnibus redduntur, vitam, tempus, sumptúsque in vanas operationes frustra impendentes, sed & in respub[lica] grauissima damna redundant. Ea si quidem est multorum vafricies, vt simulata experientia in chymicis, ficta amicitia, pollicitationibus variis, fraudulenter ab aliis artes expiscentur, eásque sibi vendicent, & venales circumferant, quæ ab aliis magna postea redimuntur pecunia. Expertus loquor: abs me enim eiusmodi nebulones aliquando extortos de chymia manu scriptos commentarios, ingenti postea pecuniæ vi, vt proprios distraxerunt. Pessimum genus hominum. Quodque si à Magistratu pro merito plecteretur, minus esset fraudium: minus artis discipuli hallucinarentur, breuíque ars vera & syncera ex laruis illis sophismatum emergeret. Ego isti malo, vt pro mea [sig. ¶4r] virili remedium afferrem Gastonis Clavei librum in tenebris diutius latere non passus sum, edendúmque curaui. Quod & superioribus annis etiam à me præstitutum est, in aliis eiusdem argumenti opusculis quibusdam, quæ dedicare haud veritus sum, Serenissimis et poten[tissimis] Principibvs Electori Palatin[ati] Christiano Anhaldino: et Ernesto Frider[ico] Marchioni Badensi, qui tractatus Serena ad modum fronte à tantis Principibus excepti fuerunt.
Cùm vero diu multúmque cogitassem cuius patrocinio vtendum mihi foret, isti vt libro gratiam & authoritatem conciliarem Landgraviorvm Hassiæ familiæ mihi in mentem venit, quæ cum seculis omnibus, Germaniæ Decus, patriæ lumen, Musarum Domus, Religionis propugnaculum fuerit: In eaque excelluerint Heroes illi sanctissimi, parens & Avvs tuus, Christiani orbis clarissima lumina: qui hostium Ecclesiæ Tyrannidi, to- [sig. ¶4v] ties sese obiicere non dubitarunt. Auitarum vero virtutum, heredem te, & possessorem viderem, qui & , simul sacra faceres, liberalitatéque erga exteros, omnes Principes facile vinceres. Idque cum Seren[issima] Angliæ Regina commune haberes, vt omnium gentium, omnium idiomatum probè gnarus, cum omnibus posses absque interprete colloqui: præterea in omnibus & singulis esses vsque ad miraculum instructissimus. Istam vero Philosophiæ Chymicæ partem, sic calleres, vt in ea mortales omnes facilè ante cellas, patrocinium istud T[vae] Celsitvdini, non sine ratione committendum existimaui. Tibi igitur (qua par est reuerentia) hoc Munusculum (suo tamen sale conditum) Dedico, vt aliquod à me grati animi indicium habeas. Vnum est, quod vereri debeam, ne scilicet mihi succenseas, quod sacra nostræ artis mysteria vulgo promiscuè pandere videar. Sed cùm omnia ab authore scripta, ita esse cogitabis, vt prophanos [sig. ¶5r] latere possint, Tuæque Celsit[vdini] iisque Solis qui ad Parnassi verticem pertigerint, pateant, boni consules, quicquid hic à me factum est. Cæterum si quid post hac te dignum nancisci potero, id lubens impartiar. Accipe (Principum Clarissime) quod pro tenui nostra facultate conferimus, & maiora deinceps obsequia splendidioresque fructus expecta: Devs Op[timvs] M[aximvs] Tuam Cel[sitvdinem] cum Sereniss[ima] coniuge ad nominis sui gloriam diutissimè sospitet. Vale Yuerduni.
Celsitvdini tvæ addictissimus.
Bernardvs G. Penotvs A Portv S. Mariæ Aquitanus D. P.
Modern English Raw Translation
It would certainly be the act of a shameless, not an honorable man, (most illustrious Prince) to claim the work of others as one's own and to publish it as such. Therefore, since I am not the author of this book which I dare to offer to Your Most Serene Highness, but rather it belongs to another who had dedicated parts of it to certain men before his departure from life, I do not wish to be considered a plagiarist, nor to be accused of rashness. Hence, I have resolved to explain to Your Most Illustrious Highness my reasons for publishing and offering this book. Three years ago in Frankenthal, while enjoying the delightful company of Johann Bartholomä Burggrav, the scribe of Neustadt, a man adorned with learning and piety, who had read my writings, especially the Apology for Paracelsus against Thomas Erastus and others who deny that metals prepared in any way can benefit human nature, he once asked me whether I had read the book of the most learned Gaston Clave against Thomas Erastus. When I said no, he not only offered me the book but also gave it to me as a perpetual token of friendship, with the condition, however, that after reading it, I should publish it, asserting that the first part of it had not yet been dedicated to anyone. I accepted the condition along with the book, and setting aside all else, I devoted myself seriously to reading it. And as I read, I added marginal annotations. From my thorough reading, I understood that the author's intention was not to hide the book in darkness, but to share it with all the sons of knowledge, as he testifies in the second book, chapter 38, and towards the end of this Apology, saying that if those who read these writings find them pleasing, then, God the Best and Greatest willing, I will later publish something more clear on other questions. And this will be more profound, worthy of greater admiration, and most useful to everyone; and elsewhere the same author says, Perhaps those who read this before or after our death will remember us. When I noticed this, I inquired of every printer I could whether they knew if the book had been printed anywhere. When they denied it, I thought it unjust for the excellent labors of such a great man to remain hidden any longer and for the students of alchemy to be deprived of reading them. And indeed, our age is full of impostors who spare neither princes nor the lowest of men. For I see kings and magnates deceived by these charlatans, who, selling deceptive and sophisticated alchemical arts with pompous show, defraud them of their money: hence, a vast number of sophists and fraudulent deceptions arise every day, because of which the most praised art of alchemy not only suffers loss, is suppressed, and adulterated, and the chemists themselves become hated by all, wasting their lives, time, and money on futile operations, but also causes serious harm to the state. Indeed, the trickery of many is such that, with feigned experience in alchemy and false friendship, they fraudulently extort arts from others, claim them as their own, and sell them, which are then bought back by others for a great deal of money. I speak from experience: for such frauds have once extorted alchemical manuscripts from me, which they later sold as their own for a great amount of money. The worst kind of people. And if they were punished by the authorities as they deserve, there would be fewer frauds; the students of the art would be less deluded, and soon the true and sincere art would emerge from those sophistical disguises. To remedy this evil as best I can, I have not allowed Gaston Clave's book to remain in darkness any longer, and have taken care to publish it. This is also what I have done in previous years with some other works on the same subject, which I have dared to dedicate to the most serene and most powerful princes, the Elector Palatine, Christian of Anhalt, and Ernest Frederick, Margrave of Baden, whose treatises were very graciously received by such great princes.
But when I thought long and hard about whose patronage I should seek to lend grace and authority to this book, the family of the Landgraves of Hesse came to mind, which has been, in all centuries, the ornament of Germany, the light of the homeland, the house of the Muses, the bulwark of religion: And in it have excelled those most holy heroes, your father and grandfather, the brightest lights of the Christian world, who did not hesitate to oppose themselves to the tyranny of the Church's
enemies. And seeing you as the heir and possessor of your forefathers' virtues, who give equal honor to Mars and Minerva, and surpass all princes in generosity towards foreigners. And you share with the most serene Queen of England the quality that, being well versed in all the languages of all nations, you can converse with everyone without an interpreter; moreover, you are to the point of wonder the most knowledgeable in all matters. And you are so skilled in this part of Chymical Philosophy that you easily surpass all mortals. I deemed it reasonable to entrust this patronage to Your Highness. Therefore, with all due reverence, I dedicate this small gift (seasoned with its own salt) to you, so that you may have some sign of my gratitude. There is one thing I must fear, that you might be angry with me for seeming to indiscriminately reveal the sacred mysteries of our art to the public. But when you consider that everything written by the author is such that it can remain hidden from the profane and be open only to Your Highness and those alone who have reached the summit of Parnassus, you will take kindly to whatever I have done here. Furthermore, if I can obtain anything worthy of you in the future, I will gladly share it. Accept, most illustrious Prince, what we offer according to our modest means, and expect greater services and more splendid fruits in the future: May the Best and Greatest God keep Your Highness and your most serene consort in good health for the glory of His name for a long time to come. Farewell from Ivry.
Your Highness's most devoted,
Bernard G. Penot, from the Port of Saint Mary in Aquitaine.