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Alchemy Academy archive
November 2005
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Subject: ACADEMY: Information sought regarding Stolcius
From: Jean-Yves Artero
Date: 27 Nov 2005

Dear Michal,

Perhaps you could try and find more information about Daniel Stolcius
in the following work:

Wilhelm Kühlmann, Poeta, Chymicus, Mathematicus. Das Stammbuch
des böhmischen Paracelsisten Daniel Stoltzius von Stoltzenberg,

in Joachim Telle (ed.) Parerga Paracelsica. Paracelsus in Vergangenheit
und Gegenwart (Heidelberger Studien zur Naturkunde der frühen Neuzeit, 3),
Stuttgart, 1991, pages 277-300.

Best regards,

Jean-Yves Artero

Subject: ACADEMY: Book owned by Sendivogius
From: Jean-Yves Artero
Date: 27 Nov 2005

As already pointed out by Rafal Prinke, there is a Sendivogius owned work
at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The work owned by Sendivogius
was later owned by Jan Brozek. The work in question is "Pharmacopoeia
Augustana". Augsburg 1613 (Medicina 6620).

It belonged really to Michael Sendivogius and it is proved by the handwritten
note of the next owner of the book, professor of the Cracow Academy Jan
Brozek,placed on the title page:"Ioannis Broscii Curzeloviensis Doctoris
Medicinae anno 1623 dono D.Michaelis Sandivogii. Duerniones D et E
perturbati sed sunt integri ut notat ibidem D. Sendivogius"
("...quires D and E are in changed sequence but they are entirely preserved,
as it is noted there by Mr Sendivogius".) And indeed, before quire E
here is a note written in Sendivogius hand as it is proved above by Brozek :
"vide inferius post folia duo" ("see inside, two leaves further on").

It seems to be the only note made by Sendivogius in the whole copy.
Whereas, there are many notes made by Brozek. Unfortunately, this copy is
not digitalized. You may request scans to be made (the price is found on
internet page: www.bj.uj.edu.pl ) .

A possible contact point is Malgorzata Goluszka Head of the Old Printed
Books Department.

The Augsburg Pharmacopoeia is one of the earliest European pharmacopoeias,
and the one which exercised the greatest influence on those of London and
the United States.

It was republished in 1927 by Huseman, Theodor: A Facsimile of the
First Edition of the Pharmacopoeia Augustana, with Introductory Essays.
Illus., Over 100 pp. in facsimile, xlii pp. of introductory text, 500 copies
printed by the State History Society of Wisconsin, in Madison. The
original author of this book is Johann(es) Zwelfer.

Concerning Brozek, here is a web reference:

http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/web/sci_health/math/Brozek/Brozek.html

In 1619 he entered the Collegium Maius and next year he departed for Italy,
stopping on the way in Innsbruck where he met Christopher Scheiner
(1573-1650). From June 1620 he studied medicine in Padua and on his
return to Poland he became for a year he attending functioned to Marcin
Szyszkowski, Bishop of Kraków. In 1625 he returned to the Karkow
Academy and became very involved in the conflict of the University with
the Jesuits.

In the course of this he showed himself to be a sharp and persistent
polemicist. He received the canonicated of St. Anne and entered the
priesthood, accepting High Holy Orders and obtaining a Baccalaureate
in Theology and various ecclesiastical appointments. In the years
1631-1638 he was the curator of the library of the Collegium Maius
which he enlarged by focused purchases and by obtaining donations.
As a parting gift he donated his own book collection, numbering over
2000 volumes which the outcome of intesive book purchasing activity
was indeed excellent."

Regards,

Jean-Yves Artero

Subject: ACADEMY: Book owned by Sendivogius
From: Rafal T. Prinke
Date: 27 Nov 2005

Dear Jean-Yves,

>As already pointed out by Rafal Prinke, there is a Sendivogius owned
>work at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

I have not inspected the book myself but relied on the information
in Roman Bugaj's monograph. The book had already been known
by 19th c. authors writing on Sendivogius.

>It seems to be the only note made by Sendivogius in the whole
>copy. Whereas, there are many notes made by Brozek.

How certain is it? Bugaj says the notes are by Sendivogius but
he may be wrong, of course.

Best regards,

Rafal

Subject: ACADEMY: Book owned by Sendivogius
From: Jean-Yves Artero
Date: 27 Nov 2005

Dear Rafal,

My source for this information is excellent in principle, since it
is in the old printed books department. It seems to be the best one
but I fully acknowledge I had no direct access.

Who are the 19th century authors on Sendivogius you are mentionning?

I am curious to see myself one example of Sendivogius' handwriting.

BTW I'll be in Poland (Warsaw) in February, 2006 (06 to 08 to be precise).

Jean

Subject: ACADEMY: Book owned by Sendivogius
From: Rafal Prinke
Date: 30 Nov 2005

Dear Jean-Yves,

>My source for this information is excellent in principle,
>since it is in the old printed books department. It seems to be
>the best one but I fully acknowledge I had no direct access.

Thank you for the information. Indeed, that is the best
source as there are lots of books once owned by Brozek
(he gave his library to the University) so the librarians
certainly know his handwriting very well (BTW some of his
books were among those stolen a couple of years ago).

>Who are the 19th century authors on Sendivogius you are mentioning?

I meant Polish authors: Wiszniewski, Sobieszczanski, Brincken,
Szymanowski, Grabowski, etc. Most of them followed
the standard story but also added a few details from
their own research. I do not remember who was the one
to mention the _Pharmacopeia_ first.

>BTW I'll be in Poland (Warsaw) in February, 2006 (06 to 08 to be precise).

Too far from where I live - unfortunately, as it would be nice
to meet and talk!

Best regards,
Rafal

Subject: ACADEMY: Information sought regarding Stolcius
From: Hereward Tilton
Date: 30 Nov 2005

Dear Michal,

I'm afraid I don't know much about Stolcius, though I seem to remember
that someone with the same name (I'm sure it was Daniel Stolcius) once
told me he was going to write something on him.

In my doctoral thesis "The Quest for the Phoenix" (de Gruyter, Berlin, 2003) I
relied upon Hild, Heike. Das Stammbuch des Medicus, Alchemisten und Poeten
Daniel Stoltzius als Manuskript des Emblembuches Viridarium Chymicum (1624)
und als Zeugnis seiner Peregrinatio Academica. Doctoral Thesis, Technische
Universität München, 1991, as well as on Vladimir Karpenko (who I'm sure you
know), "Viridarium Chymicum: The Encyclopedia of Alchemy," The Journal of
Chemical Education, Vol. 50, No. 4, April 1973, p. 272 (and thereabouts).

I wrote the following words about Stolcius (on pp. 238-239 of "The Quest for
the Phoenix"), which you're welcome to use (I just hope what I've said is accurate!
I think so...):

>>>>>>>> ...in the decades following his death, Maier himself came to be
regarded as an expositor of the Tradition amongst the proponents of Hermetic
philosophy. One of the earliest figures in this regard was Daniel Stoltzius
von Stoltzenberg (c.1597-c.1644), a Bohemian alchemist who was
enthusiastically described by Read as "a humble disciple of the great
Michael Maier."[16] Stoltzius studied at Charles University in Prague
and at the University of Marburg, an important centre of 'Rosicrucian'
activity; later in his life he would find employment in Constantinople.[17]
Whilst in Frankfurt-am-Main Stoltzius visited Maier's publisher,
Lucas Jennis; it seems Jennis himself arranged a viewing for the
young man of certain alchemical emblems from the books of Maier
and his fellow physician at the court of Moritz the Learned, Johann
Daniel Mylius. According to Stoltzius, his soul was delighted by the
"mystical sense" of these ingenious pictures; they provided some
solace in the face of his flight from war-torn Bohemia, which seems
to have coincided with the defeat and exile of Friedrich V. Having
seen how much these copperplate engravings pleased the young man,
Jennis suggested that he compose short verses to accompany their
republication - the end result being the beautiful Viridarium Chymicum
(Chemical Pleasure-Garden, 1624).[18] In the foreword to this work
Stoltzius pays tribute to the pious memory of Michael Maier, a
celebrated doctor and a "most brilliant and learned man," and he
speaks of the importance of embracing the "great treasure" that
has been bequeathed through his work.[19] In a particularly poetic
passage, Stoltzius describes his re-issuing of the emblems as the
transmission to posterity of a tradition based upon reason and experience:

With this flame before us, we shall not stray into darkness; leaning
on this staff, we shall not fall in the slippery way; nor will we swear
by someone's lengthy words or inane phantasms, but having been
guided by Nature, we will examine everything with the precise
touchstone of reason and pyrotechnic experiment, eagerly seizing
the truth and rejecting falsehood. And by examining closely the
unexhausted abysses of Nature, and the immense miracles in
this great amphitheatre of the contemplated universe, we will be
inspired to sing to the praise and glory of its Author.[20]

Footnotes:
[16] Read, Prelude to Chemistry, p. 197.
[17] See Hild, Heike. Das Stammbuch des Medicus, Alchemisten und
Poeten Daniel Stoltzius als Manuskript des Emblembuches Viridarium
Chymicum (1624) und als Zeugnis seiner Peregrinatio Academica.
Doctoral Thesis, Technische Universität München, 1991; also
Karpenko, Vladimir. "Viridarium Chymicum: The Encyclopedia of
Alchemy," The Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 50, No. 4, April
1973, p. 272.
[18] Stoltzius, Daniel. Viridarium Chymicum Figuris Cupro Incisis
Adornatum et Poeticis Scripturis Illustratum: Ita ut non tantum oculorum
et animi recreationum suppeditet, sed et profundiorem rerum naturalium
considerationem excitet, ad haec forma sua oblonga Amicorum
Albo inservire queat. Frankfurt am Main: Lucas Jennis, 1624, p. A4:
"Desiderabam igitur talem mihi Philothecam comparare, quae et
oculos meos artificiosa pictura recrearet, et mystico sensu animum
oblectaret: potissimum in hac Medicinae ergo suscepta peregrinatione,
in qua Patriae meae mirandos et miserandos casus cum moerore
audio, et turbis illis Martialibus hinc et inde dispersis, non sine gravi
dolore, saepissime interturbor. Has ergo cupro incisas imagines
Francofurti apud Dn. Lucam Jennisium praeter spem inveni, et
cum mihi arriserint, eidem desiderium meum aperui. Propositum
ille comprobavit, meque mei voti compotem reddidit, simulque ut
figuras illas brevissimo Carmine describerem, et tecum, Lector
Humaniss. communicarem, rogavit."
[19] Ibid., p. A6.
[20] Ibid.: "Hac enim face praeeunte, in tenebris non aberrabimus;
hoc baculo innixi, in via lubrica non cademus, neque amplius in
alicujus sesquipedalia verba, et inania phantasmata jurabimus,
sed naturae ductum sequendo, ad rationis et experientiae
pyronomicae trutinam omnia examinabimus, verum avide arripiemus,
falsum abjiciemus, Inexhaustas Naturae abyssos, et miracula
immensa in hoc totius Universitatis Amphitheatro intuendo, ad
laudem et gloriam Conditori decantandam excitabimur."<<<<<<<<

All the best, in any case - I really should pop over the border and
see the fruits of your labours some time...

Hereward Tilton

Subject: ACADEMY: Information sought regarding Stolcius
From: José Rodríguez Guerrero
Date: 1 Dec 2005

I couldn't read the original message on Stolcius (I suppose my spam
filter deleted it) but I saw the answers signed by Hereward Tilton
and Jean-Yves Artero.

Following up on their postings there are also bio-bibliographical
data printed in:

- Claus Priesner and Karin Figala (eds.), Alchemie, Lexicon..., 1998,
entry: Stolcius (pp. 455-457 in the Spanish edition).

- Antonín Truhlár and Karel Hrdina (eds.) Enchiridion Renatae poesis
Latinae in Bohemia et Moravia cultae, 1966-1982, t. V, pp. 198-203.

Regards,

José Rodríguez Guerrero