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Preface

To the Highly Gracious Reader.

This exceedingly rare manuscript is now shared with the inquisitive world and those eager minds seeking truth in both natural and supernatural matters. It likely would never have come to light—or at least not so soon—had it not fallen into the hands of a person of noble rank through a singular twist of fate. It happened a few years ago that a stranger arrived in a famous royal residence city to see the city itself, as well as the court and the surrounding pleasure houses. He took up lodgings there with a merchant. Because the stranger noticed several alchemical Chymiſche; refers to "Chymistry," a period term encompassing both modern chemistry and alchemy books at the merchant’s house, he engaged him in a discussion original: "Diſcours" regarding alchemy. From this conversation, the merchant was able to discern the stranger’s great knowledge in such matters. Driven by curiosity, the merchant used a master key to open the room where the stranger was staying during his absence. There, he immediately caught sight of this manuscript. Seeing upon opening it that it dealt with alchemical matters, he showed it to a friend who lived in a laboratory, who in turn shared it original: "communiciret" with a person of noble rank. Because this aforementioned noble person was feeling unwell and was forced to spend a sleepless night, they decided to leaf through the manuscript, intending to return it to the merchant the next day so it could be restored to the stranger, who was staying that night outside the city at a pleasure house.

However, as the aforementioned noble person—who was exceedingly experienced in mathematics original: "Matheſi" and the science of nature—encountered such quite strange and extraordinary things, the likes of which they had never found in any book of this kind, they decided not to let the manuscript out of their hands until it had been copied and carefully compared original: "collationiret" with the original. In that original, many things which the author had considered superfluous, or perhaps even too clear, had been crossed out. Although...