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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 DictionaryKobalt

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English Edition · Branch 131 of 740

Kobalt

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 131

Kobalt

Metals minerals and metallic preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A metallic matter described through colour, surface and workability.

In the book. Kachimia and Marcasita classify metallic material as unripe.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 28; facsimile PDF page 356.

Historical Definition

Kobalt, Cobaltum or Cobletum is a metallic matter blacker than lead or iron, lacking metallic lustre, yet capable of being melted and hammered.

Meaning

The description combines an absence with capacities. Although the matter lacks the shining appearance expected of a metal, the compiler credits it with melting and being worked by hammering. These are the features by which this particular material is presented to recognition.

Use in the Book

Kachimia and Marcasita classify metallic material as unripe. Kobalt instead gives a cluster of observable properties. The difference matters: a definition by appearance and behaviour need not carry the same developmental explanation as a definition by ripeness.

Places to Read

Kachimia. Metallic ore described as unripe and at its beginning.

Marcasita. A varied category of metallic matter understood as unripe.

In This Edition

The historical name is not silently replaced with a modern elemental identity. The described sample and its properties are what the source actually supplies.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 28; facsimile PDF page 356 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 356, Kobalt

See also. Kachimia; Marcasita

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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.