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 176

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Early New High German Page · Branch 183 of 215

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Early New High German

p. 176

hafftigen Particularibus jemals komme.

Bleiben demnach in Eitelkeit vnd jrrthümen / alle die / so auff sie trawen / wofern sie sich nicht zur wahren MAGNESIA bekehren. Der wahre MAGNESIAM nicht hat / der hat auch Ihre Kreffte vnd Wirckungen nicht / kan derhalbē auch nie zum gewünschten Ende kommen.

Dargegen aber / hat der jenige Doctrinæ filius, Welcher MAGNESIam Philosophorū CATholicam erkennet / solchē nutz hieuon / das / sintemal er auff diesen Pri-materialischen festen grund vnd gleich als Fels der Natur / aus welchē alleine Naturgemeß-künstlich herfür fleust Philosophorum, permanens unda / der Philosophen bleibendes Wasser / sein fundament legt vnd bawet / Seine labores / die Pforten der Albern vnd

Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum: Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum

p. 176

-ine Particulars.

Accordingly all those who trust in them remain in Vanity and in errors, unless they turn to the true MAGNESIA. He that has not the true MAGNESIA has not Her Powers and Operations either, and can therefore never come to the wished-for End.

But on the other hand, that son of the Doctrine who Recognizes the CATHOLIC MAGNESIA of the Philosophers has this profit thereof: that, forasmuch as he lays and builds his foundation upon this First-material firm ground and, as it were, Rock of Nature — out of which alone there flows forth, in a Nature-conforming and artful way, the permanens vnda of the Philosophers, the abiding Water of the Philosophers — his labours stand fast: the gates of the Silly and

237.Marginal glosses: ‘Outside the Catholic Magnesia of the Philosophers — the HIGHEST GOOD OF NATURE, to be attained through art, that is, the Stone of the philosophers — there is no salvation. Just as neither, in what belongs to eternal salvation, is there salvation outside the Church.’; ‘The TRUTH OF THE LORD abideth for ever. Psalm 117, Verse 2.’ — The first gloss is the point at which Catholisch, which this edition renders universal and never denominational, is turned deliberately against the Church: Khunrath builds his sentence on extra Ecclesiam nulla salus and puts Magnesia where the Church stands. He does not soften it, and neither does this translation. — The second gloss is Psalm cxvii. 2 (Vulgate cxvi), veritas Domini manet in aeternum. — permanens unda, the abiding wave or water — the 1599 sets a round u, not the pointed v it uses elsewhere — is Khunrath’s own Latin, and he gives his German for it in the next breath, as he habitually does; it belongs with the Aqua permanens of p. 129. — Albern, the silly: the sentence runs over the page to the arg-Chymisten of p. 177, so the gates are those of the foolish and of the arrant Chymists together. — Pri-materialischen is Antiqua in both halves across the line break, where p. 121 splits its hybrid compounds between the founts; and Philosophen in line 21 is Antiqua while the der before it is Fraktur, as LIECHTS and NATVR are at p. 172.

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