The ''Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit'' ("Book of the Holy Trinity") is an early 15th-century

alchemical Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

treatise, attributed to Frater Ulmannus (latinization of the German given name ''Ulmann'', from OHG '' uodal-

man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

''), a German

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

. The text survives in at least four 15th-century manuscripts, the archetype Cod. 78 A 11 (Berlin), dated to between 1410–1419, and three copies,: Heidelberg Cpg 843 Fasc. 3 (15th century); Munich, Staatsbibl., Cgm 598 (late 15th century, after 1467) and St. Gallen, Kantonsbibl., VadSlg Ms. 428 (dated 1488). The treatise describes the alchemical process in terms of

Christian mythology Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. The term encompasses a broad variety of legends and narratives, especially those considered sacred narratives. Mythological themes and elements occur throughout Christia ...

. The theme of the book is the analogy of the passion, death and resurrection of the

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

with the alchemical process leading to the '' lapis philosophorum''. The text is one of the most important alchemical works of late medieval Germany. It is not atypically a combination of alchemy and

Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

. Ganzenmüller (1956) speculated that the book may have been known to Jakob Böhme. The Berlin manuscript contains drawings, some of which re-appear in later (16th century) alchemical works such as the 1550 ''

Rosarium philosophorum ''The Rosary of the Philosophers'' (''Rosarium philosophorum sive pretiosissimum donum Dei'') is a 16th-century alchemical treatise. It was published in 1550 as part II of ''De Alchimia Opuscula complura veterum philosophorum'' (Frankfurt). The t ...

''. The work became notable among German nobility, who, on the eve of the German Renaissance, showed great interest in alchemy as a fashionable subject while at the same time rejecting occult magic as impious. Ulmannus' work as an explicitly Christian treatment of alchemy could resolve this dilemma and became a prestige possession in 15th century libraries. A revision of Ulmannus' text was prepared in 1433 for Johannes von Bayreuth, the eldest son of Friedrich von Brandenburg. Copies of this survive in MS. Dresden N 110 (dated 1492) and MS Gotha Landesbibliothek Ch. B. 254 (17th century). Other versions of the work are found in German National Museum Nuremberg MS 80061,

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

MS Germ 1, the

Wellcome Library The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of me ...

, London, MS. 164, and other sources. An edition of the work was in preparation (as of 2009) as a Würzburg dissertation.Annina Sczesny (uni-wuerzburg.de)

References

*Herwig Buntz, 'Das "Buch der Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit"', ''Zeitschrift für Deutsches Altertum und Literatur'' 101 (1972), 150-160. *Wilhelm Ganzenmüller, 'Das "Buch der Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit"', in ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Technologie und der Alchemie'' (1956), 231-272. *Uwe Junker, ''Das "Buch der Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit" in seiner zweiten, alchemistischen Fassung (Kadolzburg 1433)'', Cologne (1986), .

External links

index of manuscriptsCpg 843
{{Alchemy Alchemical documents 1410s books