... . : Paracelsus did not read or write much. He says that for ten years he never read a book, and his disciples testify that he dictated his works to them without using any memoranda or manuscripts. On taking an inventory of his goods after his death, a Bible, a Biblical Concordance, a Commentary to the Bible, and a written book on Medicine were all the books that could be found in his possession. It is true that it is very difficult, if not altogether impossible, to understand the writings of Paracelsus without possessing a certain amount of spiritual insight and intuition. The writings of Paracelsus deal especially with metaphysical and not with corporeal things. Thus, for instance, when he speaks of Sulphur, he, like other Alchemists of his times, refers to a certain active energy or form of the will, for which even modern science has not yet invented a name, and for which the term Sulphur is a symbol, in the same sense as Mercury is a symbol for intelligence, Salt for substance, Venus for love, and so forth. One would therefore vainly inquire at the chemists shop for the sulphur of Paracelsus... with the knowledge of spiritual mysteries and secret powers of Nature, the meaning of the symbols representing those things has also been lost. Few of the works of Paracelsus were printed during his lifetime. Those that were printed consist of his seven books, De Gradibus et Compositionibus Receptorum et Naturalium, Basel, 1526; and of his Chirurgia Magna, printed at Ulm, 1536. The rest of his writings did not become known publicly until after his death, and it is to be regretted that his disciples and followers delivered them in such a state of confusion to the printer, that frequently entire pages were missing, and it was very difficult to put those that were to be had into some order. Separate editions of the works of Paracelsus were published by Hieronymus Feierabend in Frankfurt, by Arnold Byrkmann in Cologne, and by Peter Barna in Basel. Simultaneously a great many spurious prints and writings, falsely attributed to Paracelsus, were put into circulation, as appears from a note by Antiprassus Siloranus, who says that Paracelsus wrote 35 books on Medicine, 235 on Philosophy, 12 on Politics, 7 on Mathematics, and 66 on Necromancy. If we remember that Paracelsus was engaged in literary labours for only fifteen years, it appears self-evident that Siloranus referred in his note to all the books and papers that were put into circulation, and attributed to Paracelsus by the public. John Huser, doctor of medicine at Grossglogau, undertook a critical examination of such works, on the request of the Archbishop Prince Ernst of Cologne [LC: The protector of Roman Catholicism in northwestern Germany]. He collected with great labour all the autographs of Paracelsus and the original manuscripts of his disciples, such as could be found; he put them into order, and revised and published them at Cologne in a general edition during the years 1589 and 1590. ***
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 19:15:54 +0000
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