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 169

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Facing Pages · Branch 176 of 215

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Early New High German

p. 169

vnnd abgunst / andern vleissigen Leuten GOTTES Gaben mißgönnen / vnd was gut ist / dieweil es von jhnen nicht hero kompt / leichtfertig tadeln vnd Calumniren,) ein elender / verworrener / verloffener hauffe allerley ( darunder auch viel Hudelmans gesindlein) herumb schlumgelender / jhren jnen sonsten ordenlicher weise gebreuchlichen gewerben vnd Handtirungen / ja / auch GOTTes vnd der Natur vocationē zuwieder / in diese Kunst sich selbst entringender / auch vom Geldtgeitz / beneben Faulheits lust / zum Müssiggange verleiteter gemeiner Laboranten / vnd / wegen jhres vnuerstandes / grober / vermessener / auch wol pengklich^‡ starrender vnd trotziger Gesellen / die doch von den Geheimnissen GOt-TES in der Natur / also viel verstehen / als die Krahe vom Sontage / oder eine Schweitzer

Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum: Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum

p. 169

and grudging grudge GOD’S Gifts to other diligent people, and lightly disparage and Calumniate what is good, because it does not come from them): a wretched, confused, vagabond crowd of all sorts (among them a good deal of ragamuffin rabble) loafing about — men who have thrust themselves into this Art against the trades and handicrafts otherwise customary to them in the ordinary way, yes, and against the calling of GOD and of Nature too; common Laborants whom Money-greed, together with a liking for Sloth, has seduced into Idleness; and, by reason of their want of understanding, coarse, presumptuous, and indeed loutishly^‡ stiff-necked and defiant fellows, who for all that understand as much of the Mysteries of GOD in Nature as the Crow does of Sunday, or a Swiss

230.Marginal glosses: (continued from p. 168) ‘… [they want to] shoot the Bird down^†, and ride alongside the Brewer’s waggon^§.’; ‘A troop of light-armed men.’; ‘Let one confer with them …’ (running on to p. 170). — den Vogel abschiessen, to shoot the bird at the shooting-match, is to carry off the prize; riding beside the brewer’s waggon is plainly keeping grand company on another man’s business, but the phrase is not one this edition can source, and the English keeps it literal. ^†The gloss’s abschressen is heavily inked: the sorts appear to give schr where the idiom wants schi, and the inking will not let the two be told apart. ^§The gloss sets Brauw at the line end and wagen at the head of the next, giving a doubled w. Both marked. — Hudelmans gesindlein, ragamuffin rabble; schlumgelender is not a recorded form and belongs with Schlingel, an idler. die Krahe vom Sontage is the proverbial measure of total ignorance, and runs on into the Swiss cow’s knowledge of dancing at p. 170. — ^‡pengklich is not a recorded form. Beside grober and vermessener the sense wants bengelisch, loutish, from Bengel, a lout, and the page sets p for b elsewhere (pelferen, p. 168). The English follows that, which is inference from the sense and from the page’s habit, not from the types. — The third gloss ends with its own catchword, so hö-, repeated at the head of p. 170’s margin, as p. 168’s ends Vo-; it is anchored here beside line 22, where the independent pass read line 23, and the disagreement is recorded rather than resolved. — ordenlicher wants the t of ordentlicher, and Laboranten in line 17 is Antiqua between two Fraktur words.

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