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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 DictionaryFons philosophorum

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English Edition · Branch 345 of 740

Fons philosophorum

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 345

Fons philosophorum

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A philosophical fountain name referred to a bath term.

In the book. The link is a useful reminder that an apparently evocative name can lead to apparatus vocabulary.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 23; facsimile PDF page 351.

Historical Definition

Fons philosophorum is Balneum Maris.

Meaning

The definition points to another named entry rather than describing a literal spring. Balneum Mariæ includes Maris as a form used by many writers and describes a furnace arrangement containing water. That cross-reference supplies the stated interpretive route.

Use in the Book

The link is a useful reminder that an apparently evocative name can lead to apparatus vocabulary. It should not be expanded into an independent philosophical solvent or natural water source merely from the word fountain. Follow the explicit bath identification before deciding what a passage intends.

Places to Read

Balneum Mariæ. A water bath used to warm vessels for several kinds of work.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 23; facsimile PDF page 351 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Fons philosophorum

See also. Balneum Mariæ

345

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.