Jean D'Espagnet's The Summary of Physics Restored (Enchyridion Physicae Restitutae)

The 1651 Translation with D'Espagnet's Arcanum (1650)

Thomas Willard

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9780824075422
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317942801
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: History

First published together in Latin in 1623, these two tracts, Enchyridion Physicae Restitutae and Arcanum were at once recognized to be among the clearest descriptions ever written of the hermetic cosmology and the alchemical work. They were translated into English by two leading occultists, John Everard and Elias Ashmole, and the translations are printed together here for the first time. The introduction provides the fullest biographical notice ever written about d'Espagnet, a retired public official who published the works under strict anonymity. It also traces the influence these works had on later generations of practical alchemists like Eirenaeus Philalethes and spiritual alchemists like Thomas Vaughan. The commentary traces the d'Espagnet's extensive references to classical philosophy and poetry as well as to earlier works in alchemy. The introduction discusses the life, publications, and critical reception of d'Espagnet, and suggests why the book became required reading for members of an English hermetic society. Following the text itself, a set of annotations indicates variants in the Latin original and a French translation that Everard may have seen, notes obvious mistakes in the text, suggests alternate readings, expands d'Espagnet's marginal notes into meaningful citations, and identifies further sources when possible. This edition will be of interest to scholars of alchemy, early modern science, French literature, and English literature. An index of names follows the annotations.

INDEX

ablution 109, 168, 190

Abraham, Lyndy xxvn42, 1

Abraham Judaeus 97

abyss 14-15, 17, 18, 73, 78

Adam 113, 142, 169, 187; see also terra adamica

air xxxv, 24, 31-34, 131, 148

alchemists 95, 140

Alcides 104

alembic 33, 49, 61, 122, 151, 153-54, 190

allegory 157, 159, 162

amalgam 128, 190

amaranth 107, 126, 167

analogy 24, 25, 54, 65, 137

analysis 189

Anaxagoras 145

animals 57-58, 63-64

antimony 166

ape (of nature) 75, 109, 167

Apollo 164

Apollonius Rhodius 170

aqua fortis 31, 102, 143, 188, 190

arcanum 158

Arcanum Hermeticæ Philosophiæ (D’Espagnet) xi, xiii, xxiii, xxiv, xxx, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxvi, 91-131

archaeus 74

archetype 10, 83, 143, 155-56, 190

argent vive 105-6, 109, 110, 127, 129, 190

Ariadne 158, 184-85

Arisleus 162

Aristotle xxii, xlvi, lv, 7, 13, 40, 45, 139-44, 146-48, 150, 155, 159, 169

Arnold of Villanova xxin26, 130, 172

arsenic 162, 163, 166

Artephius 158

Ashmole, Elias xxiv-xxv, xxvii, xxxviii, xliii, xlvi, lii, lv, 136, 149, 158, 1...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• English Renaissance Hermeticism
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• General Introduction
• Introduction
• Bibliography
• Sigla
• Enchyridion Physicæ Restitutæ
• Arcanum
• Textual Notes
• Commentary
• Appendix I: I.C. Chymeriastes’ Postface
• Appendix II: The Times of the Stone
• Appendix III: Elias Ashmole’s Postscript
• Appendix IV: Instructio de Arbore Solari
• Glossary
• Index of Biblical, Classical, and Hermetic References
• Index