Text.Duclo.1598-01.!2r/Translation

To the most serene and illustrious Prince Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse, Count of Katzenelnbogen, Dietz, Ziegenhain, and Nidda, most excellent and most gracious Lord,

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.