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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition

Anonymous (traditionally attributed to Anton Joseph Kirchweger)

The Golden Chain of Homer

A New Translation from the German Edition of 1723

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The Golden Chain of HomerThe Author’s Preface

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Facing Pages · Branch 33 of 504

The Author’s Preface

German & Latin

1723 scan 16–17

Ist auch einem Artisten nicht nutz / die Zierde der Worte zu betrachten / und daß er die schönen constructiones harmonicas desideriret / sondern seinen Beutel und Gesundheit und deren Interesse zum Guten wende / daß er die Theoriam mit gegenwärtiger Praxi practicam mit Kopff und Händen werckstellig / sicht und greiffbar mache. Sonsten aber / wo es nur in einem theoräischen Hirn stecken bleibet / so kan er sich zwar einen Disputanten aber nicht Practicanten nennen.

1723 scan 16–17

The Golden Chain of Homer: The Author’s Preface

1723 scan 16–17

Nor does it benefit a practitioner to attend to verbal ornament and long for beautiful, harmonious constructions. Rather, let him turn his concern to the good of his purse and health, so that with head and hands he makes theory practical through the practice presented here, bringing it into effect, visible and tangible. Otherwise, if it remains lodged only in a theorising brain, he may indeed call himself a disputant, but not a practitioner.

1723 scan 16–17

About This Reading Edition

The two-book alchemical work of 1723 in German with a new English translation, 399 notes, eight historical diagrams, chapter outlines, keyword essays, a glossary, bibliography, subject index, and 400 discussion questions.

Discussion Questions

Historical Text and Translation

Anonymous, Aurea Catena Homeri. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Johann Georg Böhme, 1723. Traditionally attributed to Anton Joseph Kirchweger; the attribution remains uncertain. Historical diagrams from the Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung copy digitized by e-rara.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The supplied edition identifies the 1723 German source and historical diagrams as public-domain material. Its new English translation and editorial apparatus are published with the site owner’s authorization. The complete original files are retained unchanged.