The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I

Name: The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I
Author: Attributed to Abraham the Jew

Book of Hieroglyphic Figures

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The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume IThe Labors of Hercules · Manuscript 50v · Scan 128

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The Labors of Hercules · Manuscript 50v · Scan 128

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French

Ms. 50v

qui lave et nettoie cette noirceur du laton ou du soufre. Si on néglige ce travail d'Hercule, tous efforts deviennent inutiles, toutes les peines, les soins et les mouvements qu'on se donne ne servent à rien. Hercule vainct Cygnus dans un duel opiniâtre et le surmonte encore après qu'il eût été changé en oiseau blanc, c'est-à-dire que pour finir l'œuvre voilà le plus grand et le dernier combat et un travail au-dessus de tout autre, car le soufre blanc étant converti en rouge, il ne reste rien qu'un profond repos et une joie parfaite. C'est alors qu'Hercule a tué l'aigle qui dévorait le foie renaissant de Prométhée attaché sur le Caucase, qu'il ramena des enfers Alceste, femme du roi Admète qui pour délivrer son mari de la mort, et lui prolonger la vie de plusieurs années a souffert la mort en sa place; mais il l'a ramenée des enfers après en avoir terrassé tous les monstres. Alceste est notre eau mercurielle qui n'a pas fait de difficulté de mourir à la place de son mari, c'est-à-dire son soufre; mais présentement Hercule l'a rappelée des cachots de la mort et de l'enfer, à une autre nouvelle et meilleure vie, ce qui a fait dire à Virgile: «Il est aisé de descendre aux enfers, la porte du noir Pluton est ouverte nuit et

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I: The Labors of Hercules

Ms. 50v

to wash and cleanse this blackness from the laton or sulfur. If this labor of Hercules is neglected, every effort becomes useless; all the trouble, care and exertion one undertakes achieve nothing. Hercules defeats Cygnus in a stubborn duel and overcomes him again after he has been changed into a white bird. This means that here is the greatest and final combat, a labor surpassing all others, needed to finish the work. For once white sulfur has been converted into red, nothing remains but profound repose and perfect joy. It is then that Hercules has killed the eagle devouring Prometheus's ever-renewing liver as he lay bound upon the Caucasus, and that he brought Alcestis back from the underworld. The wife of King Admetus, she suffered death in her husband's place to free him from death and prolong his life by several years. But Hercules brought her back from the underworld after overthrowing all its monsters. Alcestis is our mercurial water, which did not hesitate to die in place of her husband—that is, her sulfur. Now, however, Hercules has recalled her from the prisons of death and hell to another, new and better life. This caused Virgil to say: ‘It is easy to descend into the underworld; black Pluto's gate stands open night and

About This Reading Edition

The first manuscript in the Manly Palmer Hall collection at the Getty Research Institute: the Book of Hieroglyphic Figures, presented in French and English with 463 explanatory notes, 13 manuscript plates, 25 source details, an introduction, chapter outline, glossary, bibliography, and register of readings.

Historical Text and Translation

Book of Hieroglyphic Figures (Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques), attributed in the witness to Abraham the Jew. Getty Research Institute, Manly Palmer Hall collection of alchemical manuscripts, accession 950053, Box 1, Hogart manuscript 3; French witness catalogued circa 1800. Manly Palmer Hall is the collector, not the author.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The circa 1800 source manuscript is public domain. The supplied 2026 French reading transcription, English translation, introduction, notes, outline, glossary, register, and editorial arrangement are published with the site owner’s authorization. Source photographs are credited to the Getty Research Institute and Internet Archive in the supplied edition.