BASIL VALENTINE.
One of the most illustrious of the adept philosophers is unquestionably Basilius Valentinus, born at Mayence, and made prior of St Peter’s at Erfurt in 1414. His name was supposed to be fictitious and adopted for the purpose of concealing some accomplished artist, but the history of the city of Erfurt, published by J. M. Gudemus assures us of the existence and name of the philosopher, on the authority of the public records, and shows us that in 1413 he was an inmate of the monastic house already mentioned, and that he distinguished himself by a profound knowledge of nature.[S] As the work of Gudemus was printed in 1675, the veracity of the Dictionnaire des Sciences Occultes, written in the interests of religion and for the blackening of the secret sciences, may be judged by the following passage:—“His life is so mixed up with fables that some have disbelieved in his existence. He is represented flourishing in the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries; it is even added, without the smallest proof, that he was a benedictine at Erfurt.”
According to Olaus Borrichius, he enclosed his writings in one of the pillars of the abbey church; they remained for many years in this hiding-place, but were at length discovered by the fortunate violence of a thunderbolt. He was the first who introduced antimony into medicine, and it is said that he originally tried the effects of antimonial medicines upon the monks of his convent, upon whom they acted with such undue violence “that he was induced to distinguish the mineral from which these medicines had been extracted by the name of antimoine—hostile to monks.” But Thomson, who relates this anecdote in his “History of Chemistry,” shows the improbability of it, for the works of Basil Valentine, and in particular his Currus Triumphalis Antimonii, were written in the German language. Now the German name for antimony is speissglas and not antimoine, which is French.
Basil Valentine denounces the physicians of his time with the fury of Paracelsus. The most ancient systems of chemical philosophy are preserved in his experiments. He exalts antimony as an excellent medicine for those who are acquainted with alchemical secrets. To others it is a poison of the most powerful nature.
No further particulars of the life of Basil Valentine have descended to posterity. Numerous works have been printed in his name, and the authenticity of several is questionable. He wrote in high Dutch, and comparatively few of his treatises have been translated into other languages. The best are as follows:—1. De Microcosmo deque Magno Mundi Mysterio et Medecina Hominis, Marpurg, 1609, 8vo; 2. Azoth, sive Aurelia Philosophorum, Francfurt, 1613, 4to; 3. Practica, unà cum duodecim Clavibus et Appendice, Francfurt, 1611, 4to; 4. Apocalypsis Chymica, Erfurt, 1624, 8vo; 5. Manifestatio Artificiorum, Erfurt, 1624, 8vo; 6. Currus Triumphalis Antimonii, Lipsiæ, 1624, 8vo; 7. Tractatus Chimico-Philosophicus de Rebus Naturalibus et Prœternaturalibus metallorum et mineralium, Francfurt, 1676, 8vo; 8. Haliographia, de præparatione, usu, ac virtutibus omnium Salium Mineralium, Animalium, ac Vegetabilium, ex manuscriptis Basilii Valentini collecta ab Ant. Salmincio, Bologna, 1644, 8vo.
Every letter and syllable of the “Triumphal Chariot of Antimony” is declared to have its special significance. “Even to the pointes and prickes” it bristles with divine meanings and mysteries. The metrical treatise on the first matter of the philosophers declares that this stone is composed of white and red, that it is a stone, and yet scarcely a stone; one nature operates therein. Those who desire to attain it, Basil elsewhere informs us, must labour in much prayer, confess their sins, and do good. Many are called, but few chosen to this supreme knowledge. The study of the works of the philosophers and practical experiment are both recommended. There is much in the writings of Basil, in his suggestive if impenetrable allegories, in his curious Kabbalistical symbols, and in his earnest spirituality, to suggest a psychic interpretation of his aims and his principles. This is particularly noticeable in the “Triumphal Chariot of Antimony,” and yet it is clear from this remarkable work, which is the masterpiece of its author, that Basil Valentine was one of the most illustrious physical chemists of his age. He was the first to describe the extraction of antimony from the sulphuret, though it does not appear that he was the inventor of this process. Previous to his investigations the properties of antimony were almost unknown. He was also acquainted with the method of obtaining chlorohydric acid from sea-salt and sulphuric acid, with the method of obtaining brandy by the distillation of beer and wine, and the rectification of the result by means of carbonate of potassium, and with many other operations which eminently assisted the progress of chemistry.
FOOTNOTES:
[S] Eadem ætate (scilicet anno 1413) Basilius Valentinus in divi Patri monasteris vixit arte medica et naturale indagatione admirabilis.