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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 Garden and the Spiritualization of Waters · Manuscript 36r · Scan 97

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The Garden and the Spiritualization of Waters · Manuscript 36r · Scan 97

French

Ms. 36r

fontaine est visqueuse, gluante et pesante, elle lui fournit une nutrition visqueuse, pesante et solide et une longue vie ; c’est aussi le bain du soleil et de la lune où ils disent que s’est lavé Vulcain, et que, épris d’amour pour son cher Narcisse, il se précipite dedans par la ressemblance de ce jeune homme qu’il y aperçoit.

Personne ne peut cueillir de ces roses s’il ne connaît l’entrée de ce jardin dont la garde est commise à Vénus et à son cher Adonis, du sang duquel celles qui sont blanches empruntent la couleur rouge, et il n’y a que celui des philosophes qui lui plaît, parmi ceux qu’il laisse entrer, qui puisse profiter de ces eaux, ayant la connaissance de cette caverne vitriolique.

Ms. 36r

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I: The Garden and the Spiritualization of Waters

Ms. 36r

spring is viscous, sticky, and heavy, it supplies the tree with viscous, heavy, and solid nourishment and a long life. It is also the bath of the Sun and Moon, in which, they say, Vulcan washed himself; and, enamored of his beloved Narcissus, he plunges into it because of the likeness of that young man which he perceives there.

No one can gather these roses without knowing the entrance to this garden, whose keeping is entrusted to Venus and her beloved Adonis. From his blood the white roses borrow their red color. Only the philosopher who pleases its keeper, among those admitted, can benefit from these waters, through knowledge of this vitriolic cavern.

Ms. 36r

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.