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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

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A Chymical DictionaryCalx Iovis

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English Edition · Branch 86 of 740

Calx Iovis

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 86

Calx Iovis

Metals minerals and metallic preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A tin-related calx name glossed as a spirit.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341.

Historical Definition

Calx Iovis is the spirit of tin.

Meaning

The explicit identification with tin is more informative here than translating the planetary name alone. The definition also calls the product a spirit, showing that a calx expression should not automatically be replaced by one modern category of dry powder. This entry has its own stated sense.

Read the other Calx entries as a varied family: some identify ash, some a precipitate, some a prepared metal. The common first word does not erase the differences. A passage’s operation must determine what this spirit of tin is intended to be.

Places to Read

Iupiter. The planetary name Jupiter denotes tin here.

Calx Mercurii. Mercury identified in a precipitated condition.

Calx lignorum. A direct identification of a calx as ash from wood.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Calx Iovis ; compare Iupiter, Calx Mercurii, Calx lignorum

See also. Iupiter; Calx Mercurii; Calx lignorum

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About This Reading Edition

The complete 706 historical definitions of the 1650 English dictionary, modernised and accompanied by expanded Diotimos commentary, reading routes, 15 textual notes and complete linked indexes.

Historical Text

A Chymicall Dictionary, London 1650, English version associated with John French, based on Gerhard Dorn’s Dictionarium Theophrasti Paracelsi. The containing volume also prints Sendivogius and Paracelsus; neither neighboring work changes this dictionary’s attribution.

About This Edition

Complete 706 definition paragraphs with new introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes; Diotimos Editions, 2026.

Rights

The historical 1650 English text is in the public domain. New introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and published with the site owner’s authorization.