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''The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine'' is a widely reproduced
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, ...
book attributed to
Basil Valentine
Basil Valentine is the Anglicised version of the name Basilius Valentinus, ostensibly a 15th-century alchemy, alchemist, possibly Canon (priest), Canon of the Benedictine Priory of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany but more likely a pseudon ...
. It was first published in 1599 by Johann Thölde who is likely the book's true author. It's presented as a sequence of alchemical operations encoded
allegorically in words, to which images have been added. The first Basil Valentine book to discuss the keys is ''Ein kurtz summarischer Tractat, von dem grossen Stein der Uralten'' ("A Short Summary Tract: Of the great stone of the ancients"), 1599.
The first part of the book is a discussion of general alchemical principles and advice about the
philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...
. The second half of ''Ein kurtz summarischer Tractat'', under the subtitle "The Twelve Keys", contains twelve short chapters. Each chapter, or "key", is an allegorical description of one step in the process by which the
philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...
may be created. With each step, the symbolic names (''Deckname'', or code name) used to indicate the critical ingredients are changed, just as the ingredients themselves are transformed. The keys are written in such a fashion as to conceal as well as to illuminate: only a knowledgeable reader or alchemical adept was expected to correctly interpret the veiled language of the allegorical text and its related images.
Illustrations
The 1599 edition does not include illustrations. Woodcuts appear in the 1602 edition. Revised engravings for all twelve steps appear in ''
Tripus Aureus
''Tripus Aureus'' or ''The Golden Tripod'' is an alchemical book by Michael Maier published in 1618 by Lucas Jennis. It contains three alchemical texts: The "twelve keys" of Basil Valentine, Thomas Norton's ''Ordinal of Alchemy'' (1477), and ''The ...
'' ("Golden Tripod"). This 1618 Latin translation by
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 ...
includes three works, the first of which is Basil Valentine's.
Since the texts predate the images, the texts should be considered primary.
(1593–1650), and published in the collection ''Musaeum hermeticum'', Francofurti : Apud Hermannum à Sande, 1678">
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 I. Clavis AQ30 Key 1.tif , First key.
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 II. Clavis AQ30 Key 2.tif , Second key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 p 398 III. Clavis AQ27.tif , Third key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 IV. Clavis AQ32 Key 4.tif , Fourth key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 V. Clavis AQ33 Key 5.tif , Fifth key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 VI. Clavis AQ34 Key 6.tif , Sixth key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 VII Clavis AQ35 Key 7.tif , Seventh key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 VIII. Clavis AQ36 Key 8.tif , Eighth key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 IX. Clavis AQ37 Key 9.tif , Ninth key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 X. Clavis AQ38 Key 10.tif, Tenth key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 XI. Clavis AQ39 Key 11.tif , Eleventh key
File:Musaeum Hermeticum 1678 XII. Clavis AQ40 Key 12.tif , Twelfth key
Physicochemical interpretation
The allegorical text and fantastic visual imagery of alchemical writings make them difficult to interpret. A
physicochemical
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...
reading was proposed in the twenty-first century. Chemist and historian
Lawrence M. Principe
Lawrence M. Principe () is the Drew Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of History of Science and Technology and the Department of Chemistry. He is also currently the Director of the Charles Singleton Center f ...
has drawn on knowledge of
chrysopoetic symbolism and experimentally tested possible chemical processes and practices which may correspond to several of Basil Valentine's twelve steps. Visually he refers to the 1602 woodcuts.
Principe speculates that the twelve keys may involve descriptions of varying types. Some of the early keys may encode descriptions of actual laboratory techniques and observed results. Other keys may be theoretical extrapolations of what could be accomplished: ideas for experiments that had not yet been successfully carried out. The final keys may be descriptions of methods based on other writers' textual precedents.
There is evidence that the "father of chemistry",
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...
, also volatilized gold by following the steps in Basil Valentine's keys.
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the great ...
also seriously studied the writings attributed to 'Basil Valentine'.
See also
*
Three hares
The three hares (or three rabbits) is a circular motif or meme appearing in sacred sites from East Asia, the Middle East and to the churches of Devon, England (as the " Tinners' Rabbits"), and historical synagogues in Europe. It is used as an a ...
External links
German edition with alternate woodcuts.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine, The
Alchemical documents
Emblem books
1599 books
1599 in science