Chymia Chymia: Science and Nature in Medieval and Early Modern Europe Edited by Miguel López Pérez, Didier Kahn and Mar Rey Bueno Chymia: Science and Nature in Medieval and Early Modern Europe Edited by Miguel López Pérez, Didier Kahn and Mar Rey Bueno This book first published 2010 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2010 by Miguel López Pérez, Didier Kahn, Mar Rey Bueno and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-2553-0, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-2553-5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Prologue.....................................................................................................vii Miguel López Pérez Acknowledgements..................................................................................viii Questions of Methodology about Pseudo-Avicenna’s De anima in arte alchemiae: Identification of a Latin Translation and Method of Edition.....1 Sébastien Moureau The Jews and Alchemy: Notes for a Problematic Approach.....................19 Gabriele Ferrario The Disputatio Scoti Falsely Attributed to Michael Scot (14th C.)............30 Benjamin Fauré La théorie per minima dans les textes alchimiques des XIVe et XVe siècles........................................................................................................41 Antoine Calvet The Turba philosophorum and its French Version (15th C.)......................70 Didier Kahn Paracelsus in Pannonia: Alchemy and Medicine in Count Boldizsár Batthyány’s Circle...................................................................................115 Dóra Bobory Masters of Fire: Italian Alchemists in the Court of Philip II...................138 William C. Eamon Fool’s Silver: Alchemy and Fraud in Sixteenth-Century Spain..............157 Maria Tausiet Beyond Patronage: Michael Sendivogius and the Meanings of Success in Alchemy..............................................................................................175 Rafał T. Prinke vi Table of Contents The Singularity of Alchemical Experience: The Case of Camillo Baldi.232 Bruce T. Moran The World-Spirit and Quintessence in the Chymical Philosophy of Joseph Du Chesne...............................................................................247 Hiro Hirai The Making of Chemical Medicines in Valencia during the Sixteenth Century: Llorenç Coçar...........................................................................262 Maríaluz López Terrada I Salify, Therefore I Can See and Touch: The Case of the Chemical Principles.................................................................................................279 Rémi Franckowiak Some Forgotten Fez Alchemists and the Loss of the Peñon de Vélez de la Gomera in the Sixteenth Century....................................................291 José Rodríguez Guerrero Isaac Hollandus Revisited.......................................................................310 Annelies van Gijsen Novatores or Alchemists? A Spanish Historiographical Problem...........331 Miguel López Pérez The Idea of Science and the Spirit of Chemistry.....................................367 Luc Peterschmitt “The Great Philosophical Work”: Georg Ernst Stahl’s Early Alchemical Teaching...............................................................................386 Kevin Chang Bibliography............................................................................................397 Manuscripts Primary Sources Secondary Sources Contributors.............................................................................................461 Index........................................................................................................466 PROLOGUE MIGUEL LÓPEZ PÉREZ History of alchemy has been considered a rich field of research for a few years, as meetings, conferences, monographs, collective books and an impressive number of scientific papers testify. There has never been before such a flow of scholarly communication on history of alchemy among historians. The conference from which this book originated is but another manifestation of this growing scholarly movement. The international conference Chymia: Science and Nature in Early Modern Europe, held at the Royal University Center “Escorial - María Cristina” from September 7th to 12th, 2008 was, most of all, a come-true desire. The alchemical hobbies of the Spanish King Philip II had mainly took place at San Lorenzo’s Monastery of El Escorial. In 1587, one hundred meters away from where the conference was held, stood the largest alchemical laboratory of Europe in the sixteenth century, with four hundred alembics working at the same time (Archivo del Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, XI-9). Surprisingly enough, this has not been well-known among historians of alchemy out of Spain, and the same is true for most of Spanish history of alchemy in early modern times. Therefore, one of the aims of this international conference, besides a desiderium scientiæ common to all of us, was to have as many historians of alchemy as possible come together to Spain and use this magnificent scene as an ideal place to talk about history of alchemy. It demanded a dreadful effort of organization and planning, an economic effort, and finally, a whole editing work, resulting in the present book. During the conference in El Escorial, the good environment among participants, the high quality of papers, being delivered both by junior researchers and seniors, the possibility to exchange ideas and opinions at length in a friendly, pleasing, exciting atmosphere, and the desire to share scientific ideas were constant. The diversity of approaches in which this international meeting resulted is represented in the following pages as well. From detailed papers on the origin and diffusion of medieval texts to articles discussing unusual political situations, part of the substantial and varied impact of alchemy in culture and society of the past centuries reflects in this book. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MIGUEL LÓPEZ PÉREZ My thanks to: Edelmiro Mateos Mateos, Rector of the Real Centro Universitario (Royal University Center) “Escorial - María Cristina”, who liberally opened us the doors of this great house and welcomed us with unlimited hospitality. To Raquel Fernández Burgos, “soul” of the RCU “Escorial - María Cristina”, for her efforts and constant help. To RCU “Escorial - María Cristina’s” maintenance staff. To food service staff, for their patience with us and for the perfect cooking. To the Chemical Heritage Foundation, for its financial support and for sharing our illusions and our efforts. To Ronald Brashear (Chemical Heritage Foundation), for his help and efforts in managing that everything came out all right. To Oti Bueno and Lucía Herranz, two great women. To Mar Rey Bueno, for her infinite patience with me. Her desire to celebrate an international conference on history of alchemy at El Escorial has been the true germ of this book. To Agustín Fernández Merino (d. 2009). Without his help and enthusiasm, we never could have done anything. To José Rodríguez Guerrero, for his collaboration in all requests I asked him for. To Lawrence M. Principe (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University), with whom I have shared all preliminaries to the Conference, and who spent a long time in helping me in every way. In addition, I am deeply grateful to several friends, who have been close to me in this adventure from its origins. Special thanks to William C. Eamon, Bruce T. Moran, María Portuondo, and John Slater. Many thanks are due, too, to several scholars among the participants of the Conference who accepted to attend it on their own expenses. I want to thank Cambridge Scholars Publishing for the edition of this book, for believing in us, and for the effort to finish this work. Finally, I want to give my thanks, in a very special way, to Didier Kahn. The generous help he gave me is a mere effect of his character. QUESTIONS OF METHODOLOGY ABOUT PSEUDO-AVICENNA’S DE ANIMA IN ARTE ALCHEMIAE: IDENTIFICATION OF A LATIN TRANSLATION AND METHOD OF EDITION SEBASTIEN MOUREAU, ASPIRANT DU F.S.R.–FNRS/UNIVERSITY OF LOUVAIN In 1572, Mino Celsi edited in Basel in the publishing house of Pietro Perna a compendium of alchemical medieval texts entitled Artis chemicae principes, Avicenna atque Geber. Among the works of this compendium, we find the sole edition of a Latin treatise wrongly attributed to Avicenna, the De anima in arte alchemiae.1 This work is a compilation and a Latin translation (the chronological order of these stages cannot be precisely defined)2 of three Arabic treatises, probably written between the end of the 11th and the middle of the 13th century.3 This article is divided in two parts. In the first section are presented some practical considerations about identifying a Latin translation of an Arabic text. The second part proposes a method of edition for Latin medieval texts derived from the Lachmann system. 1. Some considerations concerning the identification of a translation When one faces a Latin text that contains Arabic features (linguistic or other), one of the main questions is to determine whether the treatise is a translation from Arabic, or a text directly written in Latin. In the next pages, I intend to give some practical remarks about this main question, referring, as an example, to the De anima in arte alchemiae.4