OF GEBER

THE MOST PENE-

TRATING PHILOSOPHER, THE SUMMARY OF PER-

fection of the mastery Magistery original: "magisterij"; in alchemy, the "magistery" refers to the "Great Work" or the master-process of transmuting base metals into gold or achieving spiritual perfection. in its own nature, recently published from

a copy in the Vatican Library, most thoroughly corrected

from every side, including certain Chapters, Ves-

sels, and Furnaces original: "Fornacum"; the technical description of these furnaces was essential for the practical "laboratory" side of alchemy., which were omitted in a volume previously

most faultily printed. Also the Books of the Investi-

gation of the mastery, and the Testament of the same

Geber Geber is the Latinized name of Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–815), a Persian polymath often considered the father of early chemistry., as well as the Golden Booklet of Three Words,

and of Avicenna original: "Auicennæ"; the Latinized name of Ibn Sina (c. 980–1037), a Persian physician whose work on minerals and geology was frequently appended to alchemical corpora., the supreme physician

and most acute phi-

losopher, the

addition on

Minerals,

most highly

purified.

Summa A comprehensive treatise or "summary" of a specific field of knowledge, popular in medieval and Renaissance academic writing.

Castigatissima Translated here as "most highly purified"; while it literally means "most corrected" or "chastened" (referring to the text), in an alchemical context it carries a double meaning of being chemically purified or refined.