Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 9 of 204
Preface to the Reader · 1611 · Passage 3
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1611 pp. 4
Latin
Nomen meum certis de causis publicare non consultum visum est, dum non mihi laudem quaero, sed Philosophiae amatoribus prodesse studeo: ideo vanam gloriae cupiditatem relinquo illis, qui malunt videri quam esse. Quae hic in veritatis Philosophicae indubitatam attestationem scribo, paucis comprehensa, a manuali experientia mihi ab Altissimo concessa deprompta sunt, ut ii, qui in hac laudatissima scientia prima et realia posuerunt fundamenta, hac cohortatione pulcherrimarum rerum exercitationem non deserant, et sic a scelerata Fumivendulorum turba, cui dulce est decipere, tuti sint.
English
For certain reasons I have not thought it advisable to publish my name. I seek to help lovers of philosophy, rather than to win praise for myself; I leave the empty desire for glory to those who prefer seeming to being. What I write here, briefly set out as an assured testimony to philosophical truth, comes from practical experience granted to me by the Most High. May this encouragement keep those who have laid the first real foundations in this highly praised knowledge from abandoning their practice of such excellent things, and protect them from the wicked crowd of smoke sellers who delight in deception.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Preface to the Reader · 1611 · Preface to the Reader · 1611 · Passage 3
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete supplied Latin–English edition of the Twelve Treatises, Epilogue, Enigma, Parable, Dialogue of Mercury and Treatise of Sulphur, with original preliminaries, John French’s historical English address and its separately labelled modernisation, 101 annotations and the complete study apparatus.
Historical Text and Translation
The Twelve Treatises and their concluding texts follow the selected 1606 Herzog August Bibliothek witness. The Dialogue uses the 1607 Cologne printing; the author’s preface and Alsted epigram use Frankfurt 1611. Sulphur uses the 1616 Munich and Rome witnesses. John French’s 1650 address is separately identified as historical English reception.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical Latin texts and John French’s 1650 English address are in the public domain. The new translation, modernisation and editorial apparatus were prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions in 2026 and are published with the site owner’s authorization.