Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum

Name: Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Author: Heinrich Khunrath

The 1599 German text with a new English translation, introduction, glossary, and notes.

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Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica PhilosophorumMagnesia Catholica Philosophorum · Printed Page 129

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Early New High German

p. 129

teste Sapiente, apud Hamuelem filium Zadith, interpretem Senioris, est Aqua composita, congelata, quæ repugnat Igni. Hoc Mare latum, magnum, bonum, cuius bonitatem commendauit Hermes. Darbey bleibe es.

Wird gefraget / wohero ist man dann dieser nuhmehr offt vnd vielmals angedeuteten MATERIAE also gar gewis / das eben dieselbe / vnd sonsten keine andere / Sie habe auch Nahmen wie Sie wolle / von GOTT / durch die Natur / dem Philosopho hierzu fürgestellet / das gleich SIE^† das ausserwehlte vnfeilbare SVBIECTVm LAPIDIS Philosophorum VNIVERSALIS sein solle vnd sey? Hat man dann den STEIN der Weisen jemals daraus zubereitet? Wie kan mans also eigentlich wissen / wann man jhn zuuor noch nicht draus gema-

Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum: Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum

p. 129

on the testimony of the Wise Man — in Hamuel the son of Zadith, the interpreter of Senior — is a compounded, congealed Water, which withstands Fire. This Sea is broad, great, good, whose goodness Hermes commended. Let it rest at that.

It is asked: whence, then, is one so wholly certain of this MATERIA, now so often and so many times intimated, that just this same one — and no other, let her have what Name she will — has been set forth by GOD, through Nature, to the Philosopher for this purpose, so that She likewise^† should be and is the chosen, unfailing SVBIECTVM of the VNIVERSAL LAPIS Philosophorum? Has the STONE of the Wise then ever been prepared out of it? How can one know it so properly, when one has not previously ma-

187.Marginal gloss: ‘The permanent Water at the beginning of the Work and at its end.’ — Aqua permanens is the standing name for the water that does not fly from the fire; the point of the gloss is that it stands at both ends of the operation, so that what is had at the beginning is what is had at the last. — The authority is cited back to front. The Arabic alchemist known to the Latin west is Senior Zadith filius Hamuel, and the tract that goes under his name is the Tabula Chymica; Khunrath makes Hamuel the son and Zadith the father, and calls him the interpreter of Senior rather than Senior himself. Whether the inversion is his or his source’s cannot be told from this page. — Hoc Mare latum, magnum, bonum has no verb; the English supplies ‘is’, which the Latin permits and the German of the next sentence assumes.

188.Marginal gloss: ‘QVESTIONS.’ — ^†Line 16 as printed reads das gleich SIE für, and line 17 begins das ausserwehlte. Khunrath’s errata on the unnumbered leaf following p. 187 give, for this page, Das gleich SIE das ausserwehl-te. lin. 16 — the corrected line, broken at the same place the corrected setting would break it. The correction deletes für, without which sein solle vnd sey has nothing to govern. Adopted and marked. — The three questions are the opponent’s, not Khunrath’s, and they are the sharpest put against him in the book: how can he know the matter is the right one if he has never made the Stone from it? The answer begins on p. 130 and is not finished until p. 133.

About This Reading Edition

Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum argues that alchemy has one universal subject, that this subject cannot be extracted from the metals, and that nothing in the work can begin without recognizing it. This complete reader begins with the supplied seven-part introduction and orientation, then presents every printed page of the 1599 German treatise opposite its new English translation.

Historical Text and Translation

The German reading text is a fresh diplomatic transcription from 600 dpi images of the Magdeburg copy printed by Johann Bötcher in 1599. It preserves Khunrath’s capitalization, word division, authorial marginal keys, glosses, errata, and three unnumbered closing pages: the errata leaf, owl emblem, and colophon.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the new English translation, introduction, notes, glossary, collation, and editorial apparatus. The translation follows Khunrath directly, retaining his technical vocabulary, changes of register, repetitions, rhetorical questions, and distinctions between German, Latin, and coined terms.

Rights

Heinrich Khunrath’s 1599 German work is in the public domain. The 2026 English translation, introduction, notes, glossary, editorial arrangement, and related matter are original to this edition and remain © 2026 Diotimos.

supplied-bilingual-editionSupplied complete German–English scholarly edition