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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 DictionarySylvestres

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English Edition · Branch 658 of 740

Sylvestres

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 658

Sylvestres

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Names with airy-spirit and gigantic woodland senses.

In the book. Sylphes receives a different local equation, pygmies.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 44; facsimile PDF page 372.

Historical Definition

Sylvestres or sylvani are airy men and airy spirits; sometimes the names mean woodmen who are strong, gigantic men.

Meaning

The entry explicitly supplies more than one use. Airy men and spirits form the first description; the word sometimes introduces the woodland and gigantic interpretation. The qualifier preserves variation rather than resolving it into one species.

Use in the Book

Sylphes receives a different local equation, pygmies. The common-looking forms are useful search companions, but their different definitions should remain visible. The dictionary itself does not say that the gigantic woodmen are pygmies.

Places to Read

Sylphes. A spirit name locally equated with pygmies.

Vmbragines. Another name referred to pygmies.

Vndæ. Spirit names given both airy and earthy qualifications.

In This Edition

The English airy follows the witness. No particular modern folklore taxonomy is imposed on these overlapping early modern names.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 44; facsimile PDF page 372 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Sylvestres; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 372; compare Sylphes, Vmbragines, Vndæ

See also. Sylphes; Vmbragines; Vndæ

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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.