ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| Preface | [5] |
| Introductory Essay on the True Principles and Nature of the Magnum Opus, and on its Relation to Spiritual Chemistry | [9] |
| On the Physical Theory and Practice of the Magnum Opus | [38] |
LIVES OF THE ALCHEMISTS.
| Geber | [44] |
| Rhasis | [46] |
| Alfarabi | [48] |
| Avicenna | [51] |
| Morien | [53] |
| Albertus Magnus | [57] |
| Thomas Aquinas | [61] |
| Roger Bacon | [63] |
| Alain of Lisle | [67] |
| Raymond Lully | [68] |
| Arnold de Villanova | [88] |
| Jean de Meung | [90] |
| The Monk Ferarius | [92] |
| Pope John XXII. | [93] |
| Nicholas Flamel | [95] |
| Peter Bono | [118] |
| Johannes de Rupecissa | [119] |
| Basil Valentine | [120] |
| Isaac of Holland | [123] |
| Bernard Trévisan | [124] |
| John Fontaine | [129] |
| Thomas Norton | [130] |
| Thomas Dalton | [133] |
| Sir George Ripley | [134] |
| Picus de Mirandola | [136] |
| Paracelsus | [137] |
| Denis Zachaire | [140] |
| Berigard of Pisa | [148] |
| Thomas Charnock | [148] |
| Giovanni Braccesco | [151] |
| Leonardi Fioravanti | [153] |
| John Dee | [153] |
| Henry Khunrath | [159] |
| Michael Maier | [160] |
| Jacob Böhme | [161] |
| J. B. van Helmont | [166] |
| Butler | [168] |
| Jean D’Espagnet | [170] |
| Alexander Sethon | [171] |
| Michael Sendivogius | [175] |
| Gustenhover | [181] |
| Busardier | [182] |
| Anonymous Adept | [184] |
| Albert Belin | [186] |
| Eirenæus Philalethes | [187] |
| Pierre Jean Fabre | [200] |
| John Frederick Helvetius | [201] |
| Guiseppe Francesco Borri | [208] |
| John Heydon | [210] |
| Lascaris | [211] |
| Delisle | [216] |
| John Hermann Obereit | [219] |
| Travels, Adventures, and Imprisonments of Joseph Balsamo | [220] |
| An Alphabetical Catalogue of Works on Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy | [274] |
| Appendix | [307] |
| Index | [313] |
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY
ON THE TRUE PRINCIPLES AND NATURE OF THE MAGNUM OPUS, AND ON ITS RELATION TO SPIRITUAL CHEMISTRY.
Those unfamiliar with modern alchemical criticism, even if they have some acquaintance with the mystical labyrinth of the turba philosophorum, will probably learn with astonishment that the opinions of competent judges are divided not only upon the methods of the mysterious Hermetic science, but upon the object of alchemy itself. That it is concerned with transmutation is granted, but with the transmutation of metals, or of any physical substance, into material gold, is strenuously denied by a select section of reputable students of occultism. The transcendental theory of alchemy which they expound is steadily gaining favour, though the two text-books which at present represent it are both out of print and both exceedingly scarce.