Magia Adamica

Name: Magia Adamica
Author: Thomas Vaughan

The Antiquity of Magic · With the Complete Coelum Terrae

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Magia AdamicaTo the Reader · Unnumbered Preliminary 23 · Passage A

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To the Reader · Unnumbered Preliminary 23 · Passage A

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Original English

workes, that he should plant in Man a Desire to know, and yet deny him Knowledge it self. This in plain termes were to give me Eyes, and afterwards shutt mee up in Darkness, lest I should see with those eyes. This earnest Longing, and busie Inquisition wherein Men tyre themselves to attain to the Truth, made a certain Master of Truth speak in this fashion. Ergo liquidò apparet in hac Mundi structurâ, quam cernimus, aliquam triumphare Veritatem; quae toties rationem nostram commovet, agitat, implicat, explicat; toties inquietam, toties insomnem miris modis sollicitat, non fortuitis, aut aliunde adventitiis, sed suis & propriis, & originariis Naturae Illicibus; quae omnia cum non fiunt frustra, uti que contingit, ut Veritatem Eorum quae sunt, aliquo tandem opportuno tempore amplexemur. It is clear therefore (saith he) that in this Fabric of the world, which we behold, there is some Truth that rules; which Truth so

Modern English

works that he would plant in humanity a desire for knowledge, yet deny it knowledge itself. In plain terms, that would be to give me eyes and then shut me in darkness lest I should see with them. This earnest longing and busy inquiry, in which people tire themselves seeking truth, led a certain master of truth to speak as follows. [New translation of the Latin:] “It is therefore clearly apparent that in this structure of the world which we behold some truth prevails: a truth which so often rouses, stirs, entangles and unravels our reason; which so often, when reason is restless, so often, when sleepless, solicits her in wonderful ways—not through chance attractions or those arriving from elsewhere, but through Nature’s own, proper and original enticements. Since none of this happens in vain, it follows that at some fitting time we eventually embrace the truth of the things that are.” [Vaughan’s own English rendering:] “It is therefore clear, he says, that in this fabric of the world which we behold some truth rules: a truth which so

About This Reading Edition

Thomas Vaughan’s complete 1650 Magia Adamica publication, with all historical preliminaries and the complete appended Coelum Terrae, original and modern English, fresh translations of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, full poems, eight historical marginal notes, the complete recovered printed corrections, 312 annotations and the complete supplied Diotimos study apparatus.

Historical Text and Translation

Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), Magia Adamica: or The Antiquitie of Magic, with Coelum Terrae. London: T. W. for H. Blunden, 1650. Governing transcription: EEBO-TCP A64768.0001.001. The Getty Research Institute copy supplies surviving first-edition page images; the 1656 issue supplies explicitly disclosed missing or defective material. The complete shared 1650 errata are recovered from the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica copy of The Man-Mouse.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The historical text is public domain; the EEBO-TCP Phase I transcription is released under CC0. The supplied 2026 reading, translations and Diotimos editorial material are published with the site owner’s authorization.