Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
Nine Books on the Nature of Things
A fresh translation from the early Latin text with annotations and study apparatus
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Facing Pages · Branch 9 of 642
Dedication to Johann Winckelsteiner · Passage 2
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1605 pp. 198–199
Latin
Aequum est, amice intime et carissime frater, ut amicis ac assiduis precibus ac petitionibus tuis, quibus me crebris literis tuis aggressus es, satisfaciam: et quoniam in postremis literis tuis summopere et humanissime rogas, ut adhuc semel ad te veniam si modo mihi sit commodum, non possum te profecto celare, quod per multa impedimenta id fieri nequeat. Sed quod ad alteram petitionem tuam, quam a me petiisti, ut tibi debitam bonam et claram instructionem dem, non volo, neque possum tibi repugnare, sed tibi in eo gratificari cogor. Optime enim animum tuum bonum novi: scio etiam, quod libenter aliquid novi et mirabilis in hac arte audis et vides: scio quoque quod in vita tua multum in artes insumpseris, et maximam partem tui curriculi in illis consumpseris, etc. Quoniam igitur mihi non solum benevolentiam, sed et fraternam fidelitatem praestitisti, merito huius fidei et beneficiorum oblivisci non possum, sed gratus esse cogor, et tibi, si fortassis te in persona mea non amplius videam, fraternum vale relinquere, tibi et tuis in mei monumentum. Nam hic tibi non solum ad illa puncta, de quibus me consuluisti, et ut frater rogasti, respondebo, et te clare instituam: sed tibi propter illa puncta peculiarem librum dedicabo, quem nominabo, De Natura Rerum, et illum in novem libellos dividam. In hoc libro omnibus petitionibus tuis satisfit, et amplius quam a me petiisti.
English
My intimate friend and dearest brother, it is right that I should answer the friendly and persistent requests with which you have approached me in your frequent letters. In your latest letter you ask most earnestly and courteously that I visit you once more, if I can conveniently do so. I cannot conceal from you that many obstacles prevent this. As for your other request, that I give you the good and clear instruction you are owed, I neither wish nor am able to refuse you; I am bound to oblige you in this. I know your good disposition very well. I also know that you gladly hear and see anything new and remarkable in this art, that you have spent much of your substance on the arts, and that you have devoted the greater part of your life’s course to them, and so on. Since you have shown me both goodwill and a brother’s fidelity, I cannot rightly forget your loyalty and kindness. I am bound to be grateful and, if perhaps I never see you again in person, to leave a brother’s farewell to you and yours as a remembrance of me. Here I shall not only answer the questions on which you consulted me and sought my help as a brother, giving you clear instruction; I shall also dedicate to you a separate book concerning them. I shall call it On the Nature of Things and divide it into nine short books. In this book all your requests are answered, and more than you asked of me.
Socrates
Reading Nine Books on the Nature of Things · Dedication to Johann Winckelsteiner · Dedication to Johann Winckelsteiner · Passage 2
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete supplied Latin–English edition of the historical title, dedication and all nine books, with 363 separately labelled historical marginal notes, 117 modern annotations and the complete Diotimos study apparatus. The transmitted composite work is traditionally attributed to Paracelsus; individual authorship remains qualified.
Historical Text and Translation
The normalized Latin follows the complete 1605 Frankfurt Palthenian witness, volume six, printed pages 198–271, in SUB Göttingen PPN578052199, historical scans 182–255. Earlier textual tradition is German; the individual translator of the 1605 Latin text is not identified. The dedication’s 1537 date is transmitted text, not an established date for the composite work.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical Latin text is in the public domain. The fresh English translation and editorial material were prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions in 2026 and are published with the site owner’s authorization.