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 Sun Moon and Mercury · Manuscript 104v · Scan 242

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French Page · Branch 235 of 351

The Sun Moon and Mercury · Manuscript 104v · Scan 242

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French

Ms. 104v

les poètes, ou par les hommes profanes, ou par ceux qu'ils ont suivis, suivant la règle et l'exemple qu'ils avaient laissés; et peuvent remonter à la première source d'où ils ont coulé, et ne peuvent être rapportés à aucune chose, sans une mauvaise explication ou mal imaginée. Nous savons, et tous les vrais philosophes n'ignorent pas que la physique est la racine de toutes les sciences et que par son moyen on peut avoir la connaissance des autres sciences, ce qui est impossible sans elle, ce qui fait que dans la suite, personne ne pourra se plaindre ou être surpris que nous ayons ici détourné les images sacrées et divines au sens de la physique et afin qu'on ait encore moins d'occasion de s'étonner, qu'on considère que je me sers seulement de ces figures étrangères tirées des mécubales des Hébreux; c'est-à-dire des maîtres et docteurs des Égyptiens, et non pas de leurs mystères cachés qui ne nous regardent pas, et n'ont aucun rapport à notre propos.

Je crois comme enfant de l'Église catholique que je suis aujourd'hui tout ce qui nous doit arriver,

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I: The Sun Moon and Mercury

Ms. 104v

poets, secular people, or those whom they followed, according to the rule and example they had left. They can be traced back to the first source from which they flowed and cannot be referred to anything without a bad or ill-conceived explanation. We know—and all true philosophers know—that physics is the root of all sciences and that through it knowledge of the other sciences can be attained, which is impossible without it. Consequently no one should later complain or be surprised that we have here turned sacred and divine images toward the meaning of physics. To give still less cause for astonishment, consider that I use only these foreign figures drawn from the Hebrews' mecubales—that is, the Egyptians' masters and teachers—and not their hidden mysteries, which do not concern us and bear no relation to our subject.

As the child of the Catholic Church that I am today, I believe everything that is to happen to us,

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.