A horizontal decorative woodcut headpiece consisting of symmetrical scrolling foliage and floral motifs.

EPIGRAM.

On

THE TRULY GOLDEN TREATISES ON THE

PHILOSOPHER’S STONE

by the Anonymous Pole. original: Anonymi Leschi. "Leschus" is a Latinized term for a Pole, referring to the author Michael Sendivogius, who often wrote under the pseudonym "The Cosmopolite."

There are many for whom the labor of our Stone is a filthy thing;
These people are deservedly filthy to you, O greatest Pole.
A triad pleases you, greatest Pole: God, Nature, and Art:
May this triad please you, greatest Pole, for a long time.
Proceed to join the wife to the husband, An alchemical metaphor for combining opposing principles, often represented as Mercury (female) and Sulfur (male). to dissolve what is joined—
Proceed! May God favor your successful beginnings for a long time!
Proceed to uproot the wicked chemists, proceed to teach:
So that they do not squander original: dilapident. Alsted uses a pun here: "dilapidare" means to squander or scatter, but it is derived from lapis (stone). He is mocking those who throw away their "stones" (money) in a vain search for the "Stone." everything for the sake of the Stone.