Preface

The Tincture of the Planets original: "Tinctura Planetarum"; an alchemical process intended to transform base metals into gold or silver by "coloring" them with the essence of the planets has been printed once before, but it was incomplete and imperfect, and the best parts were left out, as will be seen by comparison.

There are some who claim that this Treatise on the Tincture of the Planets is not by Theophrastus referring to Theophrastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus (1493–1541). However, because I have a credible report that the manuscript of this little book in Theophrastus's own handwriting is in the possession of a peasant, I did not want to neglect adding it here in its perfect form—for the sake of the subject matter—alongside the other two works.

As far as the argument, virtue, and effect of the Philosophers' Stone original: "Lapidis Philosophorum"; the legendary substance capable of turning base metals into gold and granting eternal life are concerned, all philosophers here meaning alchemists and natural scientists acknowledge that it possesses two virtues—
to/