Von der Heilung zauberischer Schäden
Brief an Ulrich Beck
Printing History, Manuscripts. First edited in 1608 by Benedictus Figulus as an appendix to Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi Kleine Wund-Artzney. Although announced as a work of Bartholomaeus Carrichter on the main title-page and on the respective “Zwischentitelblatt” and although the dedicatory letter to Ulrich Beck, dated 16 January 1551, is signed by Carrichter, the text itself is dated 3 January 1551 and signed “Philippus Theophrastus Paracelsus, von Hohenheim” at the end. There are six manuscripts where the whole text (including the dedicatory letter) is expressly attributed to Paracelsus. In the Leiden manuscript the attribution to Paracelsus was added at a later time by Karl Widemann. – The first printed edition not associated with Paracelsus appeared one year later than that of Figulus, in 1609, as an appendix to a reprint of Michael Toxites’s edition of Carrichter’s Kräutterbuch. The text is a reprint of the Figulus edition with the same “Zwischentitelblatt.” The text has the same date, 3 January 1551, but is not signed, neither by Carrichter nor by Paracelsus.
Editions. Not edited by Huser or Sudhoff.
Relationship between different versions.
Structure, genre/form, perspective, style.
Relationship to other texts.
Authenticity, authorship. According to Kühlmann/Telle, the whole text shows no influence of Paracelsus at all.
Time of writing. Written in 1551. Attributed to Paracelsus probably in the 1580s.
Manuscripts:
- Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek: Chart. B 362, f. 203–214
- Kassel, Landesbibliothek: 4° Ms. chem. 74, f. 87r–98r
- Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek: Voss. Chym. Q.56, I, f. 101–120
- München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: Kiesewetteriana 25c
- Tübingen, Universitätsbibliothek: Jf IX 133 H
- Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek: Cod. 11266, f. 13r–69r
- Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek: Cod. 11330, f. 248r–257v
First printed:
- 1608 (“Von Heylung der Zauberischen Schäden,” in Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi Kleine Wund-Artzney […] Sampt zweyen angehenckten außbündigen Tractätlein H. Bartholomaei Karrichters, ed. Benedictus Figulus (Strasburg: Paul Ledertz, 1608); VD17 23:294271X; Sudhoff, Bibliographia Paracelsica, 485–487 n° 284)
- 1609 (“Von Heylung der Zauberischen Schäden”, in Kräutterbuch Des Edelen vnd Hochgelehrten Herren/ Doctoris Bartholomei Carrichters (Strasburg: Anton Betram, 1609); VD17 12:657929X; reprinted 1610, 1615, 1617, 1618).
Historical Manuscript Catalogues: cf. Widemann, Verzeichnisse (Kassel), n° I, 484
Essential bibliography: Sudhoff, Bibliographia Paracelsica, 696 n° 24; Sudhoff, Paracelsus-Handschriften, 797 n° IV/1; CP 2: 335, 340.
Further bibliographical references:
Peuckert, Pansophie (1956), 487.
Peuckert, Gabalia (1967), 426–427.
Boeren, Codices Vossiani Chymici (1975), 227.
Joachim Telle and Julian Paulus, “Bartholomäus Carrichter. Zu Leben und Werk eines deutschen Fachschriftstellers des 16. Jahrhunderts. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis,” in Heinz Schott and Ilana Zinguer, eds., Paracelsus und seine internationale Rezeption in der frühen Neuzeit (Leiden, 1998), 58–95.
Broszinski, Manuscripta chemica in quarto (2011), 335.
