Johannes Nicolaus Furichius (1602–1633) was a Franco-German

neo-Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

Imperial

poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

doctor of medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

and

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

from

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Life and Works

Born 1602 to French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

parents in

Furichius only learned German while already attending the Protestant gymnasium at which he was a school-mate of

Johann Michael Moscherosch Johann Michael Moscherosch (7 March 1601 – 4 April 1669), German statesman, satirist, and educator, was born at Willstätt, on the Upper Rhine near Strassburg. His bitterly brilliant but partisan writings graphically describe life in a Ge ...

(1601–1669). Both poets would henceforth cultivate an exchange of dedicatory and occasional

epigrams An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two millen ...

. 1622 Furichius obtained the degree of ''

magister artium A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

'' together with that of an Imperial ''

poeta laureatus A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

'' and commenced studying medicine. In the same year he published his first anthology ''Libelli Carminum Tres'' which was ensued by the ''Poemata Miscellanea. Lyrica, Epigrammata, Satyrae, Eclogae, Alia'' in 1624, both books did not yet contain alchemical poetry but - like Moscherosch's early works - display both the city's intellectual life and the gymnasium's and the early University of Strasbourg's curricula: from portrays of professors and fellow students, valedictions and congratulations over mere formal jesting, satires and confessional polemics to historical and philosophical miniatures and theological exhortations. Sojourning in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic and ...

between 1624 and 1626 Furichius travelled to the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

where he inscribed at the medical faculty of the Padovan ''Universitas Artistarum'' and the

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

of the transalpine students, the German ''Natio Artistarum''. Furichius' increasing interest in alchemical speculations and

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

resulted in his first alchemical poem ''Golden Chain or Poetical Hermes of the Philosophers' Stone'' — ''Aurea Catena siue Hermes poeticus de Lapide Philosophorum'' (printed in 1627); an ''aemulatio'' of Giovanni Aurelio Augurelli's ''Chrysopoeia'' (Venice 1515). 1628 he returned to Strasbourg. Having defended his doctoral thesis in medicine and started to practice he married the daughter of the established

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

Josias Barbette Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...

(

master craftsman Historically, a master craftsman or master tradesman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster) was a member of a guild. The title survives as the highest professional qualification in craft industries. In the European guild system, only mas ...

in 1605), with whom he had five children, three of them died until 1633. In those years Furichius experimented with pharmaceutic

alchemy 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, ...

and - although frowned upon by the local Protestant orthodoxy - established bonds to the Rosicrucian movement, namely to the

Hamburgian The Hamburg culture or Hamburgian (15,500-13,100 BP) was a Late Upper Paleolithic culture of reindeer hunters in northwestern Europe during the last part of the Weichsel Glaciation beginning during the Bölling interstadial. Sites are found close ...

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

, obsessed bibliophile and keen traveller

Joachim Morsius Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocrypha ...

(1593–1643). Throughout their correspondence and when they met in

during the winter of 1631/32 Morsius insisted on Furichius expanding the ''Aurea Catena'' to a great alchemical ''scientific poem'' which was published in 1631 as the ''Four Books of Chryseis'' — ''Chryseidos Libri IIII''. At the age of 31 Furichius fell victim to the plague, which took a particularly grim toll from the

ian doctors, on 14 October 1633.

The «Chryseidos Libri IIII» of 1631

The ''Chryseidos Libri IIII'' consists of approximately 1.600 hexametric verses, divided into four books, to which Furichius added his own glosses and wrote a versatile author's

commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

, i. e. appendixed ''Scholia'' - which were all printed within the 1631-edition. As Augurelli did one hundred years earlier Furichius depicts the alchemical work in sequences of mythological allegories: the Gods acting as metals, the Greek and Roman myths being euhemeristically interpreted as hidden alchemical instructions and vestiges of antediluvian lore. Yet while Augurelli's work is structurally clinging to Virgil's five books of the ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek word , ''geōrgika'', i.e. "agricultural (things)") the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from being an example ...

'' and is kept in an instructive style, Furichius opts for the form of a fantagasmorical travelogue in verse which he seeks to interlink with most scientific and literary

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...

s of his time.

Structure

The first book provides an introductory alchemical

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...

and narrates how the metals grow inside the earth and strife for perfection. Book two then introduces the

first-person narrator A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller ...

Chrysanthus who recounts his adventures in a fantastical Libyan desert where he encounters a speaking raven, a dreadful dragon, is infested with divine visions and finally meets

Hermes Trismegistos Hermes Trismegistus (from grc, Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος, "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest"; Classical Latin: la, label=none, Mercurius ter Maximus) is a legendary Hellenistic figure that originated as a syncretic combination of t ...

, who serves as hermit high priest of an alchemitised

Proserpina Proserpina ( , ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...

(figuring as the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

Chryseis In Greek mythology, Chryseis (, grc, Χρυσηΐς, translit=Khrysēís, ) is a Trojan woman, the daughter of Chryses. Chryseis, her apparent name in the ''Iliad'', means simply "Chryses' daughter"; later writers give her real name as Astynome ...

''). The sage who is living on a mountain summit by the goddess' temple is in books three and four expounding that all the mysteries represented the alchemical work. Thus further myths are told until finally Chrysanthus is prepared to enter himself the sanctum of Chryseis.

Influences and interrelations

Albeit depending on Augurelli, Lucretius' ''

De rerum natura ''De rerum natura'' (; ''On the Nature of Things'') is a first-century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius ( – c. 55 BC) with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7 ...

'' and - as Furichius points out - on Manilius' ''Astronomica'' and

Claudian Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian (; c. 370 – c. 404 AD), was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almost ent ...

's ''De raptu Proserpinae'' some passages are Latin adaptions of Pierre de Ronsard's (1524–1585) ''Hymne de l'Or'' while central alchemical parts of the ''Chryseis'' are versifications of the ''Tractatus aureus de lapidis physici secreto'' (an at first 1610 published

on supposed sayings of

) which also served as one main source of

Michael Maier Michael Maier ( la, Michael Maierus; 1568–1622) was a German physician and counsellor to Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II Habsburg. He was a learned Alchemy, alchemist, epigramist, and amateur composer. Early life Maier was born in ...

's (1568/69-1622) emblem book ''

Atalanta Fugiens ''Atalanta Fugiens'' or ''Atalanta Fleeing'' is an emblem book with an alchemy, alchemical theme by Michael Maier (1568–1622), published by Johann Theodor de Bry in Oppenheim in 1617 (2nd edition 1618). It consists of 50 discourses with illu ...

''. In his additions Furichius furthermore stresses his inspiration by

Ludovico Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...

's (1474–1533) ''

Orlando Furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was no ...

'' and - apart from many genuinely alchemical references, even to Byzantine sources, and hommages to

George Ripley George Ripley may refer to: *George Ripley (alchemist) (died 1490), English author and alchemist *George Ripley (transcendentalist) George Ripley (October 3, 1802 – July 4, 1880) was an American social reformer, Unitarian minister, and journa ...

(ca. 1450–1490) and Michael Sendivogius' (1566–1636) satires - indulges in the contemporary controversies of

. Such he not only relates to, among scores of other authorities, the

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating expo ...

of the Padovan

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Prospero Alpini Prospero Alpini (also known as Prosper Alpinus, Prospero Alpinio and Latinized as Prosperus Alpinus) (23 November 15536 February 1617) was a Venetian physician and botanist. He travelled around Egypt and served as the fourth prefect in charge of ...

(1553–1616), and polymathic writings of the

humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanis ...

(father)

Julius Caesar Scaliger Julius Caesar Scaliger (; April 23, 1484 – October 21, 1558), or Giulio Cesare della Scala, was an Italian scholar and physician, who spent a major part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance humanism ...

(1484–1558) and (son)

Joseph Justus Scaliger Joseph Justus Scaliger (; 5 August 1540 – 21 January 1609) was a French Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewish an ...

(1540–1609) but also discusses Paracelsism and its antagonists.

Works by Furichius

* ''Libelli Carminum Tres. Quarum Primum Epigrammata; Altera Anagrammata; Tertius Carmina ad Vitam Pertinentia continet''. Strasbourg 1622. * ''Poemata Miscellanea. Lyrica, Epigrammata, Satyrae, Eclogae, Alia''. Strasbourg 1624. * ''Aurea Catena siue Hermes poeticus de Lapide Philosophorum''. Padua 1627. * ''Disceptatio de Phrenetide.'' Strasbourg 1628 (doctoral thesis). * ''Chryseidos Libri IIII. Sive poëma de Lapide Philosophorum. Adjunctis poematibus nonnullis aliis''. Strasbourg 1631 — modern edition Tübingen 2011.Works by Furichius
in WorldCat.

Notes

References

*Erich Egg, ''Der Straßburger Goldschmied Josias Barbette'', in: Waffen- und Kostümkunde 2 (1966), pp. 126–130. * Yasmin Haskell: ''Round and Round we go: The Alchemical ''Opus circulatorium'' of Giovanni Aurelio Augurelli'', in: Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance 59 (1997), pp. 585–606. *Didier Kahn, ''Alchemical Poetry in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: A Preliminary Survey and Synthesis''
Part I
in:

Ambix ''Ambix'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal on the history of alchemy and chemistry; it was founded in 1936 and has appeared continuously from 1937 to the present, other than from 1939 to 1945 during World War II. It is currently published by the ...

57/3 (2010), pp. 249–274
Part II
in:

58/1 (2011), pp. 62–77. *Wilhelm Kühlmann, ''Alchemie und späthumanistische Formkultur, Der Straßburger Dichter Johann Nicolaus Furichius (1602–1633), ein Freund Moscheroschs'', in: Daphnis 13 (1984), pp. 101–135. *Zweder von Martels, ''The Allegorical Meaning of the ''Chrysopoeia'' by Ioannes Aurelius Augurellus'', in: ''Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Hafniensis, Proceedings of the Eight International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies, Copenhagen 12 August to 17 August 1991'', Rhoda Schnur et al. (edd.), Birmingham-New York 1994, pp. 979–988. *Zweder von Martels, '' Augurello's ''Chrysopoeia'' (1515): a turning point in the literary tradition of alchemical texts'', in: Early Science and Medicine 5/2 (2000), pp. 178–195. *Sylvain Matton, ''L'hérmeneutique alchimique da la fable antique'', in:

Antoine-Joseph Pernety Antoine-Joseph Pernety, known as Dom Pernety (23 February 1716 – 16 October 1796), was a French writer. At various times he was a Benedictine and librarian of Frederic the Great of Prussia. Together with the Polish Count Tadeusz Grabianka, also ...

, ''Les fables égyptiennes et grecques'', 2 vols, Paris 1786 (reprint ibid. 1991), vol. 1, pp. 1–24. *Giuseppe Pavanello, ''Un maestro del quattrocento,

Giovanni Aurelio Augurello Giovanni Aurelio Augurello (Joannes Aurelius Augurellus) (1441–1524) was an Italian humanist scholar, poet and alchemist. Born at Rimini, he studied both laws in Rome, Florence and Padova where he also consorted with the leading scholars of his ...

'', Venice 1905. * Thomas Reiser, ''Furichius, Johannes Nicolaus'', in ''

Killy Literaturlexikon The ''Killy Literaturlexikon - Autoren und Werke des deutschsprachigen Kulturraumes'' is an author's lexicon of German language literature. The latest edition of twelve volumes was published between 2008 and September 2011 by De Gruyter. A registe ...

'', 2nd revised edition, Wilhelm Kühlmann et al. (edd.), 13 vols, Berlin 2008sqq., vol. 4 (2009), w. * Thomas Reiser, ''Mythologie und Alchemie in der Lehrepik des frühen 17. Jahrhunderts, Die ''Chryseidos libri IIII'' des Straßburger Dichterarztes Johannes Nicolaus Furichius (1602–1633)'', Tübingen:

De Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

2011. �
review by Fredericka A. Schmadel
in:

Journal of Folklore Research The ''Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on folklore, folklife, and ethnomusicology. It was established in 1942 and is published ...

(online). * Lucia Rosetti (ed.), ''Matricula Nationis Germanicae Artistarum Gymnasio Patavino (1553–1721)'', Padua 1986. * Heinrich Schneider, ''

und sein Kreis, Zur Geschichte des 17. Jahrhunderts'', Lübeck 1929. *François Secret, ''Alchimie et Mythologie'', in: ''Dictionnaire des mythologies et réligions des sociétés traditionelles et du monde antique'', Yves Bonnefoi (ed.), 2 vols, Paris 1981, vol. 1, pp. 7–9. {{DEFAULTSORT:Furichius, Johannes Nicolaus 1602 births 1633 deaths 17th-century alchemists 17th-century Latin-language writers Didactic poets German alchemists German male poets Hermeticists Writers from Strasbourg Rosicrucians University of Padua alumni University of Strasbourg alumni Physicians from Strasbourg