The Hermetic Museum (Vol. 1)

page xi.

PREFACE TO ENGLISH EDITION.

of hierophants A term for priests or officials who interpreted sacred mysteries in ancient Greece; here referring to the secret masters of alchemy., and the “Open Entrance” Full title: Introitus Apertus ad Occlusum Regis Palatium (An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King), a famous alchemical text first published in 1667 and attributed to Eirenaeus Philalethes. to be the clearest of all his works. Helvetius Johann Friedrich Schweitzer (1630–1709), a Dutch physician of German origin who famously claimed to have performed a transmutation with the help of a mysterious stranger. was an illustrious chemist, and Michael Maier A German physician and counselor to Emperor Rudolf II; he was a prolific author of alchemical emblems and a defender of the Rosicrucians. is a person of some repute in the Rosicrucian controversy. Michael Sendivogius was an uninstructed disciple of Alexander Seton, and the “New Chemical Light,” Original Latin title: Novum Lumen Chymicum (1604). which he published and claimed as his own, was really the work of his master, who has been called the chief martyr of Alchemy Seton was reportedly imprisoned and tortured by the Elector of Saxony to reveal the secret of the Philosopher's Stone, dying shortly after being rescued by Sendivogius.. It may be added in this connection that some critics have cast doubt upon the genuine nature of the “Testament of John Cremer,” and it is true that the annals of Westminster do not include an abbot of that name.

It should be understood that the writer of this brief note must not be accredited with the translation which it seeks to introduce. That is the work of a gentleman who is said to have had a life-long acquaintance with alchemical literature; it has been subjected to a searching revision at the hands of the present editor, who may himself be permitted to claim some experience in Hermetic Hermetic: Relating to the mystical and alchemical tradition supposedly founded by Hermes Trismegistus. antiquities; the version as it stands does not uncreditably represent both the spirit and the sense of the original without the original’s prolixity Excessive wordiness or tedious length in speech or writing.. While affording to the modern student of secret doctrines an unique opportunity for acquiring in English a collection of alchemical writers, this edition of THE HERMETIC MUSEUM Original Latin: Musaeum Hermeticum. also claims consideration at the hands of the historian as a contribution of real value to the early history of chemistry.