A Compendious yet Complete Philosophical Handbook

and only the newer authors original Latin: auctores seek to obscure the ancients more than to explain them or make them clearer; for this reason, I have not wanted to neglect bringing these present fundamental principles into some order and making them public.

Things that are so scattered and confused make little impression on the senses; however, the more they are concentrated and condensed, the clearer they become, and consequently provide more light and understanding. Therefore, it is appropriate to call these few pages a Philosophical Theater in a Nutshell original Latin: Theatrum Philosophicum in Nuce. In the 17th and 18th centuries, a "Theater" was a common title for a book that provided a comprehensive overview or "spectacle" of a particular subject.. I do not see why it is necessary to cover up this so noble and highly-praised art so much, and to cloak it with such various seductive long-windedness, or to forbid the naming of the matter The "matter" (materia) refers to the primary substance or base material used by alchemists to begin their chemical transformations. with such very harsh expressions original Latin: expressionibus. For by such tactics, diligent lovers of alchemy are only deceived, plunged into useless expenses, deprived of health, honor, and property, and—worst of all—this magnificent and incomparable science is brought into the highest contempt and ridicule