Page 7 - Paracelsus Three Books of Philosophy

Paracelsus himself, or put together by one of his students from possible drafts of his
master. The closing line “The rest (for doubtless the Author wrote more) are not to be
found” indicates that the text for the printed book at least passed in a fragmentary form
through an editor. This note was in the German edition and not peculiar to the English
translation. I have not been able to consult any manuscript sources for this text.

Whatever the authorship, this book was a significant philosophical-cosmological
work of the 16th century, promoting views on cosmology, founded on alchemical
principles, that challenged the Biblical creation story. These views were attacked by the
German-Swiss theologian, Erastus (1524—1583).

For this edition I have extensively edited and modernised the English and consulted
the German edition in a few places where the meaning of the English was particularly
clouded. I have also added explanations for some of the more obscure technical terms
and words, some of which were invented by Paracelsus. I have partly taken these from
the appendix in the English edition, but have also compared these with Ruland’s
Lexicon and other sources.

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