Page 60 - Charnock alchemical letter

alchimia opuscula complura veterum philosophorum, in 1550.
41. Scala philosophorum, Correctio fatuorum, Clangor bucchinae, Opus Mulierum

Tractatulus sive ludus puerorum, Ramon Lully's De Tincturis Compendium seu vade
mecum and his Compendium animæ transmutationis are all printed in Part One of
the compendium De Alchimia 1550. Printed in this way, works which were
previously circulated in manuscript form were made more accessible and reached a
wider readership.
42. The Rosarium Arnoldi de Nova Villa ('Rosary of Arnold of Villanova') is a practical
treatise on the philosophers' stone.
43. Albertus Magnus, Semita recta ('Straight Path').
44. Thomas Aquinas translated Aristotle's In X libros Ethicorum in 1271-2.
45. The Speculum alchimieae ('Mirror of Alchemy') is ascribed to Roger Bacon and
gives definitions of alchemy and its processes.
46. The Tabula Smaragdina ('Emerald Table') is an ancient writing by Hermes
Trismegistus (fl. ca 1900 BCE), who was said to have brought alchemy to Egypt. It
is a brief allegorical and symbolic work, revered by alchemists. According to legend
the original was found in a cave, inscribed on an emerald tablet clasped in the hands
of the dead philosopher.
47. Aristotle (384-322 BCE) defined the four elements - air, fire, earth and water - and
his theories on the properties of minerals and metals are paradigmatic to the
alchemists' aim of metallic transmutation.
48 Morienus was a hermit who lived in Rome in the fifth century. He traveled to
Alexandria to study under Adfar, and when his master died, Morienus contacted
King Calid and wrote a work purporting to be a dialogue between himself and the
king.
49. Democritus of Greece (460-370 BCE) was a natural philosopher who wrote on the
subject of the physical universe. In particular, he invented the concept of atoms.
50 John Dastin was an alchemist to whom the Rosarium philosophium is accredited,
along with Arnold of Villanova.
51. Bevis of Hampton (ca 1324) is a romance, popular throughout the sixteenth century.
Also popular at that time, Guy of Warwick originated in the Middle Ages when it
was sung as a heroic ballad, and was written as a manuscript sometime between
1200 and 1400.

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