''The Rosary of the Philosophers'' (''Rosarium philosophorum sive pretiosissimum donum Dei'') is a 16th-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. It was published in 1550 as part II of ''De Alchimia Opuscula complura veterum philosophorum'' (Frankfurt). The term ''rosary'' in the title is unrelated to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

prayer beads Prayer beads are a form of beadwork used to count the repetitions of prayers, chants, or mantras by members of various religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Umbanda, Islam, Sikhism, the Baháʼí Faith, and some Christian denominati ...

; it refers to a "

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

garden", metaphoric of an anthology or collection of wise sayings. The 1550 print includes a series of 20 woodcuts with German-language captions, plus a title page showing a group of philosophers disputing about the production of the '' lapis philosophorum''. Some of the woodcut images have precedents in earlier (15th-century) German alchemical literature, especially in the ''

Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit The ''Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit'' ("Book of the Holy Trinity") is an early 15th-century alchemical treatise, attributed to Frater Ulmannus (latinization of the German given name ''Ulmann'', from OHG '' uodal-man''), a German Franciscan. T ...

'' (ca. 1410) which has the direct precedents of woodcuts 10, 17 and 19, allegorical of the complete ''hieros gamos'', nrs. 10 and 17 in the form of the "Hermetic androgyne" and nr. 19 in terms of Christian iconography, showing

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

flanked by the

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

Son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

and Holy Spirit.Karen-Claire Voss
The Hierosgamos Theme in the Images of the Rosarium Philosophorum
Proceedings of the International Conference on the History of Alchemy , ed. by Z.R.W.M. von Martels. E.J. Brill: Leiden, 1990

/ref> The ''Artis auriferae'', printed in 1572 in Basel, reproduced the 20 illustrations as re-cut woodcuts.

Johann Daniel Mylius Johann Daniel Mylius (c. 15831642) was a composer for the lute, and writer on alchemy. Born at Wetter in present-day Hesse, Germany, he went on to study theology and medicine at the University of Marburg. He was the brother-in-law and pupil of ...

' '' Philosophia reformata'' of 1622 also includes the twenty ''Rosarium'' images, re-designed in early 17th-century style by Balthazar Swan.

Manuscripts

The Latin text also survives in numerous manuscripts, none of them predating the 1550 print edition. * late 16th century ** Glasgow University Library MS. Ferguson 6. ** British Library Sloane MS 2560. ** British Library Add MS 29895. ** Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 1487. ** Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale MS. Lat. 7171. ** Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana MS. Reg. Lat. 1278. ** Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek MS. Chart. B. 365. ** Darmstadt, Hessiche Landesbibliothek MS. 1049. ** Kassel, Landesbibliothek MS. 2° Chym. 21. ** Kassel, Landesbibliothek MS. 4° Chym. 81. ** Nürnberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum MS. 16752. vo. NW 1482. ** Leiden MS. Vossianus Chym. F. 12. (dated 1575) ** Rome, Biblioteca dell'Accademia dei Lincei. MS. Verginelli-Rota 6 (dated 1597) ** Marburg MS. 101. (c. 1600) * 17th century ** Glasgow University Library MS. Ferguson 96. ** Glasgow University Library MS. Ferguson 149. ** Getty Center. Manly Palmer Hall MS. 232. ** St. Gallen, Bibliothek Vadiana MS. 394 a. ** St. Gallen, Bibliothek Vadiana MS. 394 b. * 18th century ** Glasgow University Library MS. Ferguson 210. ** Glasgow University Library MS. Ferguson 29. ** Glasgow University Library MS. Ferguson 74. ** Getty Center. Manly Palmer Hall MS. 49. ** Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica MS. 86. * 19th century ** Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica MS. 219. ** Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica MS. 303. * London, Wellcome Library MS. 1091. * London, Wellcome Library MS. 4256.

Translations

The text of MS Ferguson 210, in

Glasgow University Library Glasgow University Library in Scotland is one of the oldest and largest university libraries in Europe. At the turn of the 21st century, the main library building itself held 1,347,000 catalogued print books, and 53,300 journals. In total, the ...

, is the basis of an English translation that was published in the 18th century. The English translation reproduces the coloured drawings of the Ferguson MS as woodcuts. There is also a Czech translation, dated to 1578, by

Jaroš Griemiller Jaroš Griemiller of Třebsko was a Czech alchemist, remembered for his illuminated manuscript '' Rosarium philosophorum''. He worked under Wilhelm von Rosenberg in the 1570s, and dedicated the ''Rosarium'' to him. He completed work on the manus ...

, kept in the National Library of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. The Czech manuscript reproduces the illustrations as line drawings.

References

External links

''The Rosarium Philosophorum''

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

.
Text at The Alchemy Website

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