Democratic messenger., 1889-11-16
UNIQUE AND CURIOUS.


The Collection of Works ON Alchemy In Q
&c. Loais Library.
In this age Of electrical develop
ment and mechanical progress-this
prosaic age, when the minds OF men
ARE bent 10 the solution of the practi.
cal problems Of daily life-it il rc-
freshing 10 glance occasionally at the
embodied thought Of three or four
centuries ago. when science was in its
infancy; astronomy was, as yet. but
astrology; chemistry was alchemy;
mechanical invention was black art
or magic; philosophy was dream and
vision; religion was, on the ono hand,
autocratic dogma, and on tho other.
unquestioning superstition. Such a
peep into the past il afforded by col.
lection Of hooks recently placed by
Mr.. Henry Hitchcock in the Mercali.
tile library. Il consists OF 2C6 vol
umes Of the works of tho alchemists,
astrologers and other Hcrmetical phi.
losophers of the Middle Ages, gathered
by Gen. Ethan A. Hitchcock while
pursuing the studies which resulted in
his Remarks on Alchemy and the
Alchemists. and other kindred works.
The editions are chiefly of the Seven.
teenth and the early half Of the Eight.
eenth centuries. although some are
much older. many Of them being man.
uscripts never printed, one Of which
bears date i420, while others range
from 1857 TO 1897.
Here il tho Divine Pymander OF
Hermes Trismegistus 0he thrice great
god Mercury Of the Egyptians), the
father Of Hermetic philosophy. and
whose writings are claimed 70 ante.
date those of Moses; here is volume
OF the learned Albertus Magnus, 1893
1880; Friar Roger Bacon, l21l-l2S4,
is well represented; we have Gebir's
sun Of Perfection, translated from
the Arabic OF the Eighth cen,ury-the
oldest book on chemistry proper in
the world. Raymond Lully Tor
Lulle) is here, whose life was one long
romance, ending in his being stoned
10 death (1315), q martyr to his Chris.
tian zeal. Here we have Friar Basil
Valentine tpcriod uncertaim. whose
writings, legend says, were long con.
cealed in pillar. which heaven, al last,
in mercy 10 the human race, shattered
bya thunderbolt, thus giving TO man.
kind the philosophic treasures; Para.
CELSIUS (il90-154i), tho forerunner Of
modern empiricists. q violent man in
a violent age, who died OF broken
neck when pitched out of window
by his irate medical rivals, with
host Of the greater and lesser lights OF
alchemical literature. Here the mod.
ern theosophist or esoteric may study
at fountain head, Haydon's "Glorie
Of the Rosie Cross" Gilman's "Mys.
teries Of the Invisible World" Ash.
moles Grand Secret" the Golden
Sentences" of Sandovigius. and other
occult and mystical writings.
Here the curious may decide by an
inspection Of original productions
whether the alchemists were sortlid
seekers after the art of transmitting the
baser metals into gold and Of prolong.
ing the life on earth beyond the allot.
ment of nature, or whether they were
pure and profound philosophers,
searching for high spiritual verities
and concealing their discoveries from
the ignorance of the vulgar and the
lynx eyed hierarchs of the Inquisition
under parable and myth; using such
forms as sulphur, mercury and salt,
the philosophers stone, the alcahest,
virgins milk, red bridegrooms, lily
brides, ruby lions, sol, luna, etc, only
TO veil the lofty mysteries of man, of
the body and the soul, of conscience
and purity, OF the Spirit Of God, and
the exaltation Of the human mind and
life. To all, the quaintncss of style.
g quaintness often, too, of hand.
ting, and the odor Of antiquity
faakc tho collection one OF rare
st. Louis Republic.