Music from 'Atalanta fugiens' emblem 5
Michael Maier's alchemical emblem book Atalanta fugiens was first published in Latin in 1617. It was a most amazing book as it incorporated 50 emblems with a motto, an epigram and a discourse, but extended the concept of an emblem book by incorporating 50 pieces of music the 'fugues' or canons. In this sense it was an early example of multimedia.
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Atalanta Fugiens
Emblem 5
Put a toad to the breasts of a woman, that she may feed it,
And the woman may die, and the toad grows big from the milk.
Epigram 5
Put a cold toad at the breast of a woman,
So that it may drink from the source of milk like a child.
Let it swell into a large growth,
And let the woman become ill and die.
Make a noble medicine from it,
Which drives the poison out of the human heart and takes away destruction.
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