Preface.

Signature: ¶ iij

dream, or was impossible for any human to fathom.

Many learned people have written about this Stone original: "Lapide"; referring to the Philosopher's Stone, the legendary substance capable of turning base metals into gold in many different languages—one better, clearer, and more understandable than the other. I shall leave them all to their own merit.

However, because Theophrastus Paracelsus improved upon what he found among the ancients in many ways, and also wrote many things in an entirely new manner, I have desired to assemble into this little book what he left behind after his death concerning the Philosopher's Stone original: "de Lapide Philosophico". I do this so that all who read it may have a comparison, first among his own writings, and then also with the works of others.

This Manual A "handbook" or concise guide to practical alchemy has never before—