From the book
A New Light of Alchemy
Michael Sendivogius · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAmicus is a friend, represented here by amici; benevolentia is goodwill.
- In the workThe title says the dialogue was written for the sake of the friend Coroades and names the author as one who “loves the lineage of divine Lesches.”
- In this editionNotes 46–47 preserve Coroades and Amat.
- A place to readScriptus in gratiam amici Coroades. The title names the friendship and recipient.
Meaning
Amicus is a friend, represented here by amici; benevolentia is goodwill. The title and address use friendship and anonymity to frame the dialogue’s publication, while identifying the recipient as Coroades and the author by an indirect designation.
Use in the book
The title says the dialogue was written for the sake of the friend Coroades and names the author as one who “loves the lineage of divine Lesches.” The following address speaks in a friend’s voice and explicitly tells the reader not to investigate either identity. This framing belongs to the original 1607 preliminaries, not to an autobiographical statement spoken by the dialogue’s alchemist.
The friend claims complete certainty that the author understands, has made and possesses the philosophers’ stone. His testimony explains why he requested an account of Mercury, Sulphur and Salt in simple words, asking whether common forms or other ones should be sought. The claim is an endorsement within the source; the reader of the lexicon is not thereby given independent evidence of successful transmutation.
Publication is presented as an act of goodwill that may displease an unambitious author but protect true lovers of philosophy from impostors’ financial, temporal and reputational damage. The promise of treatment of the other two principles is conditional upon grateful reception. It states a programme in 1607, not proof of the survival or exact identity of every subsequently promised work.
Places to read
- Dialogue Title · 1607 · Passage 1LatinScriptus in gratiam amici Coroades. The title names the friendship and recipient.
- Dialogue Title · 1607 · Passage 1LatinDivi Leschi Genus Amat: The printed anonymous designation retains Amat.
- A Friend to the Reader · 1607 · Passage 1LatinQuisquis sit tractatuli huius Auctor: The friend discourages inquiry into identity.
Translation in this edition
Notes 46–47 preserve Coroades and Amat. The better-known Amo designation is discussed by the apparatus, but is not the printed form in this title. The address is anonymous testimony by a friend, not automatically the author’s own voice.