Petrus Bonus (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "Peter the Good"; it, Pietro Antonio Boni) was a late medieval

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 ...

. He is best known for his ''Precious Pearl'' ( la, Margarita Preciosa) or ''Precious New Pearl'' ('), an influential alchemical text composed sometime between 1330 and 1339. He was said to have been a physician at

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, causing him to sometimes be known as Petrus Bonus of Ferrara or as Petrus Bonus the Lombard ('). ''An Introduction to the Divine Art'' (') is also attributed to him but was printed much later, in 1572.

''Pretiosa margarita novella''

The text is primarily a theoretical one. The author admits to having little practical expertise and rather tries to establish alchemy on authentically philosophical grounds and to integrate it into the medieval scientific canon.Didier Kahn, ''Alchimie et paracelsisme en France à la fin de la Renaissance (1567-1625)'', Cahiers d'Humanisme et Renaissance (Droz, 2007), 42-45 In contrast to other alchemical texts of the same period, like the Pseudo-Geber's ''Summa Perfectionnis'' or pseudo-Lull's ''Testamentum'', which promote a natural and rational vision of alchemy, for Petrus Bonus, alchemy is an art "in part natural and in part divine or super natural." ». A fifteenth-century manuscript copy survives in the

Biblioteca Estense The Biblioteca Estense ('' Estense Library''), was the family library of the marquis and dukes of Este. The exact date of the library's birth is still under speculation, however it is known for certain that the library was in use during the fourte ...

in Modena. The text was first printed in Venice in

1546 Year 1546 ( MDXLVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * May 19 – The Siege of Kawagoe Castle ends in defeat for the Uesugi clan, in their att ...

by Giovanni Lacinio under the title ''Pretiosa margarita novella''. This edition included commentary by Janus Lacinius, a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

from

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, who added extracts from other alchemical authorities, including

Raymond Lull Ramon Llull (; c. 1232 – c. 1315/16) was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, and Christian apologist from the Kingdom of Majorca. He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art'', conceived as a type of universal logic to pro ...

, al-Rasi, Albertus Magnus,

Michael Scot Michael Scot (Latin: Michael Scotus; 1175 – ) was a Scottish mathematician and scholar in the Middle Ages. He was educated at Oxford and Paris, and worked in Bologna and Toledo, where he learned Arabic. His patron was Frederick II of the H ...

, Arnaldus de Villanova.

Editions

* Venice: Giovanni Lacinio, 1546. Repr.

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

: Gabriel Hain,The son-in-law of Johann Petreius. 1554. * ''Introductio In Divinam Chemicae Artem, integra magistri Boni Lombardi Ferrariensis physici''. Edited by

Michael Toxites Michael Toxites, born Johann Michael Schütz (19 July 1514, Sterzing, South TyrolSterzing has been a part of Italy since the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) and is now known as Vipiteno. – 1581, Haguenau, Alsace) was a doctor, alchemi ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Pietro Perna Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II Can ...

, 1572. * In

Theatrum Chemicum (''"Chemical Theatre"'') is a compendium of early alchemical writings published in six volumes over the course of six decades. The first three volumes were published in 1602, while the final sixth volume was published in its entirety in 1661. re ...

. 1622. * In

Bibliotheca chemica curiosa (Latin for “Curious Chemical Library”) is a collection of alchemical texts first published in Latin, in Geneva, 1702 by Chouet, edited by Jean-Jacques Manget. It is a two-volume work, each has more than 900 pages and contains 143 texts in ...

. 1702.

References

Bibliography

* Colasanti, Marina, ''Bambini e alchimia. Il germoglio psichico nella Margarita Pretiosa Novella''. In AA.VV., ''Agathodaimon. Saggi di psicología analitica''. Milano: La biblioteca di Vivarium, 2002. * Clericuzio, Antonio. "Petrus Bonus." In ''Alchemie: Lexikon einer hermetischen Wissenschaft'', edited by

Claus Priesner Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German, Danish, and Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), a German officer who, along with others, attempted to assassina ...

and

Karin Figala Karin may refer to: *Karin (given name), a feminine name Fiction * ''Karin'' (manga) or ''Chibi Vampire'', a Japanese media franchise *Karin Hanazono, title character of the manga and anime ''Kamichama Karin'' *Karin Kurosaki, a character in ''Bl ...

, 270f. Beck, 1998. * Crisciani, Chiara. ''Preziosa Margarita Novella/Pietro Bono da Ferrara; Edizione del volgarizzamento con introduzione e note Florence.'' La Nuova Italia Editrice, 1976. * Crisciani, Chiara. "The Conception of Alchemy as Expressed in the “Pretiosa Margarita Novella” of Petrus Bonus of Ferrara." ''

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 ...

'' 20 (1973): 165-81. * Ferguson, John. ''Bibliotheca Chemica'', vol. 1, p. 150f. Glasgow, 1906. * ''Peter Bonus, auch Lombardus.'' In ''Lexikon bedeutender Chemiker'' by Winfried Pötsch, Annelore Fischer, and Wolfgang Müller. Harri Deutsch, 1989. * Ruska, Julius. "L'alchimie à l'époque du Dante." ''Annales Guébhard-Séverine'' 10 (1934): 410-17. *Stillman, J.M. "Petrus Bonus and supposed chemical forgeries." ''The Scientific Monthly'' 16 (1923): 318-25. * Telle, Joachim. "Bonus, Petrus, (Pietro Bono (Buono), Petrus Ferrariensis, Bonus Lombardus Ferrariensis) Mediziner und Alchemist (14. Jahrhundert)." In ''

Lexikon des Mittelalters The ''Lexikon des Mittelalters'' ("Lexicon of the Middle Ages", LMA, LexMA) is a German encyclopedia on the history and culture of the Middle Ages. Written by authors from all over the world, it comprises more than 36,000 articles in 9 volumes. H ...

'', vol. 2. 1983.

External links

Othmer MS 3 Pretiosa margarita novella at OPenn
* Complete downloadable scan of
Pretiosa margarita novella manuscript
from the Science History Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrus, Bonus 14th-century alchemists 14th-century Italian writers Italian alchemists