DEDICATION

...[the] greatest of Emperors, Kings, and Princes [have been able] to witness with their own eyes. Among these, I shall mention only Ferdinand III Ferdinand III (1608–1657) was the Holy Roman Emperor and a known patron of the sciences and alchemy., who was himself present at such an operation in Prague. In this process, a supreme mark of gold came forth from its chamber like the Sun, and through the artifice of transmutation, a very great abundance of this finest metal—equal to the purest gold term: purest gold (obryzum). A technical term for gold that has been refined and tested for absolute purity.—offered itself to the eyes of all to be seen. In testimony of this event, under the auspices of Ferdinand, bronze tablets were publicly erected, which, for the perpetual [memory]...

DEDICATION

...memory of the matter, are seen to this day. I shall say nothing now of those things which occurred about five years ago in Mainz, as witnessed by Becher Johann Joachim Becher (1635–1682), an influential chemist and physician whose work bridged the gap between alchemy and early modern chemistry.. There, by the application of the same Alchemical Process, while the Most Serene Elector The Elector of Mainz, one of the most powerful princes of the Holy Roman Empire. and other men of great Name looked on, a metal of a more ignoble sort was likewise "tinged" term: tinged (tinctum). In alchemical theory, a "tincture" or "elixir" was applied to base metals like lead or tin to "dye" or transform their internal essence into gold. and converted into the nature of gold. This leaves me with no doubt at all, since I have established that gold coins, adorned with the Elector's insignia, [were struck] from that same [matter]...