Lumen de Lumine

Guide to the Historical Emblem

The plate occupies printed page 23 of the 1651 witness, between the verse on page 22 and the prose beginning on page 24. It is reproduced from Wellcome’s own image, with the page margin cropped and the engraved title, frame, labels and signature retained. Its colours are the photographed paper and ink; the edition has not recoloured or redrawn the historical engraving.

SCHOLÆ MAGICÆ TYPUS — ‘A scheme of the magical school.’ Typus is an image, pattern or scheme. The title identifies a teaching image rather than an independently verified map.

MONS MAGORUM INVISIBILIS — ‘The invisible mountain of the magi.’ The mountain stands beneath celestial lights and above the central scene. Compare the mountain letter and Vaughan’s ensuing interpretation before deciding what is literally geographical.

LUMEN NATURÆ — ‘The light of Nature.’ The words surround the central candle on its pedestal. The flame is a visible organising centre of the plate.

THESAURUS INCANTATUS — ‘The enchanted treasure.’ The inscription marks the lower enclosure, where a childlike figure sits amid treasure within a ring formed by threatening creatures.

NON NISI PARVULIS — ‘Only for the little ones.’ The phrase restricts access. Its association with littleness or childlikeness invites comparison with the text’s requirements for the seeker; it does not license a single universal meaning for every child in alchemical art.

RATIO and PHANTASIA — ‘Reason’ and ‘Imagination.’ These labels sit above the figures on the left and right respectively. Their distinction must be read with Vaughan’s discussion of the emblem, including the threat of misleading appearances. The plate does not authorise a simple equation of all imagination with error.

RO: VAUGHAN SCULP: — ‘Ro. Vaughan engraved this.’ The abbreviated forename is retained as printed in the plate’s signature.

A useful order of reading is to list the marks, read the inscriptions, and then record the meanings the author expressly gives. A further symbolic interpretation can be added as an interpretation. These steps keep observation, historical exposition and modern reflection available for comparison.