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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 IFables and the Philosophical Work · Manuscript 19v · Scan 58

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Fables and the Philosophical Work · Manuscript 19v · Scan 58

French

Ms. 19v

les dragons ont une certaine sanie écumeuse et venimeuse qui tue les petits des aigles ; c’est pourquoi ces oiseaux pondent sur le haut des montagnes, des arbres et des rochers de peur que les dragons ne dévorent leur couvée qui n’est autre chose que le soufre universel engendré au haut du vaisseau et spiritualisé comme nous l’avons assez marqué ci-dessus.

De l’explication des fables par l’alchimie et l’œuvre philosophique.

Le poète dépeint élégamment cet aigle royal ou ce corps blanc de nature par la fable d’Andromède ; il feint fort ingénieusement la figure d’une fille dépouillée de ses habits royaux et attachée sur un rocher avec des liens de fer, et exposée à un dragon d’une grandeur monstrueuse, sur lequel un jeune homme monté sur un cheval ailé, la main droite armée d’un sabre, et la gauche du miroir de Minerve, ayant sur la tête le casque ou bonnet de Mercure et ses brodequins ailés aux pieds, vient fondre et met en pièces une partie du monstre prêt à dévorer cette chaste pucelle,

Ms. 19v

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I: Fables and the Philosophical Work

Ms. 19v

dragons have a certain frothy and venomous discharge that kills the young of eagles. These birds therefore lay their eggs upon the tops of mountains, trees, and rocks, lest the dragons devour their brood, which is nothing other than the universal sulfur generated at the top of the vessel and spiritualized, as we have sufficiently indicated above.

On the explanation of fables through alchemy and the philosophical work.

The poet elegantly depicts this royal eagle, or this white body of nature, through the fable of Andromeda. With great ingenuity he imagines a maiden stripped of her royal garments, fastened to a rock with iron bonds, and exposed to a dragon of monstrous size. A young man mounted upon a winged horse, with a sword in his right hand and Minerva’s mirror in his left, wearing Mercury’s helmet or cap upon his head and his winged buskins upon his feet, swoops down upon the dragon and cuts to pieces a part of the monster ready to devour this chaste maiden,

Ms. 19v

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.