Albertus Magnus

Meaning

Albertus Magnus appears first as one name in the anonymous treatise’s catalogue of people said to have known, possessed and enjoyed the art. Nature’s Demonstration gives the name a more specific function: Nature tells the alchemist to consult Albertus on minerals and asserts that he accomplished the work. Reading him accompanies the study of generation, corruption and the heavens, rather than replacing observation of Nature.

The English ‘On Minerals’ renders the Latin title de mineralibus; Albertum Magnum is the inflected form in the recommendation. These are two source-specific appeals to authority. Neither the catalogue nor Nature’s dramatic speech establishes a biography or independently verifies successful transmutation.