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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition

Attributed to Abraham the Jew

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I

Book of Hieroglyphic Figures

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The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume IThe Wilderness Rivers and Fixation · Manuscript 43r · Scan 113

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English Page · Branch 104 of 351

The Wilderness Rivers and Fixation · Manuscript 43r · Scan 113

French

Ms. 43r

par Pallas qui remporte les ornements et les armes de Mars, savoir sa pique et son sabre, et la beauté de Vénus, ou son sexe, si ce n’est notre soufre ou terre, conçue du cerveau de Jupiter, c’est-à-dire dans le ventre ou dans la vapeur de mercure, car elle se forme dans le ventre de Mercure et dans la tête de l’alambic, et ne tire son origine que des embrassements du Soleil et de Vénus, c’est-à-dire par l’union du soufre solaire et du soufre vitriolique par l’entremise de mercure, messager des dieux, car c’est de lui qu’on peut dire que cette déesse a été engendrée ou a pris naissance, parce qu’il tombe en pluie d’or, parce qu’il contient toutes les richesses et tous les honneurs du monde, et particulièrement la santé. Est-il donc surprenant que ce précieux soufre de nature soit représenté sous la figure d’un désert montagneux et ravagé par les serpents, parce qu’on ne peut l’avoir qu’après une longue calcination et une destruction totale de la sulphuréité volatile exprimée par les serpents, le dragon, le sanglier et le taureau. Les chimistes ont comparé leur soufre ou terre non seulement aux lieux déserts et inhabités, aux montagnes affreuses et aux rochers élevés et escarpés, mais encore aux lions et aux loups qui

Ms. 43r

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I: The Wilderness Rivers and Fixation

Ms. 43r

by Pallas, who carries off Mars’s ornaments and arms—his spear and sword—and Venus’s beauty, or her sex, if not our sulfur or earth, conceived from Jupiter’s brain: that is, within mercury’s belly or vapor? For it is formed in Mercury’s belly and at the head of the alembic. Its origin lies only in the embraces of the Sun and Venus: that is, the union of solar and vitriolic sulfur through the agency of mercury, messenger of the gods. It is from him that this goddess may be said to have been begotten or born, because he falls in a rain of gold, because he contains all the world’s riches and honors, and especially health. Is it therefore surprising that this precious sulfur of nature is represented as a mountainous desert ravaged by serpents, since it can be obtained only after long calcination and the total destruction of the volatile sulfurous nature expressed by serpents, the dragon, boar, and bull? Chemists have compared their sulfur or earth not only with deserted and uninhabited places, dreadful mountains, and high and precipitous rocks, but also with the lions and wolves that

Ms. 43r

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.