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Scot's 'Discoverie'
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Carl Lavoie
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 Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 05:14 am
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In a marginal note at the end of p.369 of The discouerie of Witchcraft (1584, b. XIV, ch. VI), Reginald Scot refers to a certain Goschalcus*,

 

An ancient writer of a religious order, who lived above a thousand yeares since, discovering the diversities of theftes, after a long enumeration, bringeth in Alcumysters, whom he calleth Falsificantes metallorum & mineralium, witches and counterfetters of metals and minerals ; and setteth them as deepe in the degree of theeves, as anie of the rest, whose injurious dealings are brought to open arreignment.

 

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=witch&cc=witch&idno=wit081&node=wit081%3A18&view=image&seq=396&size=100

 

 

- Have you any ideas of who could be this

 

Goschalcus

Boll. Ordinis

S. August. in

suo præcepto-

rio, fol. 244.

col. b. c. d.

& I.

 

_____________________________________________________________

 

*Malcom’s Anecdotes of 1811, using Scot’s Discoverie, has ‘Goschaleus’ :

 

http://books.google.ca/books?id=5atjAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210&dq=goschaleus&source=bl&ots=QBcfDGdDC6&sig=vbppxu2h9t7tYfhF-I6W97HIVps&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mpAbT5WtJ6m40QHlp83cCw&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=goschaleus&f=false

 

Last edited on Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 05:21 am by Carl Lavoie

Paul Ferguson
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 Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 01:37 pm
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The Goschalcus referred to is almost certainly Godescalcus [or, as the French call him, Godescalc] Hollen, but I do not know who the writer was to whom he refers as 'living above a thousand years since', unless it is a simple mistake for 'a hundred years since', which would be about right, as Hollen lived in the late 15th century.

Last edited on Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 01:38 pm by Paul Ferguson

Carl Lavoie
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 Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 04:31 pm
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The Goschalcus referred to is almost certainly Godescalcus [or, as the French call him, Godescalc] Hollen

 

Most likely. Here, his Preceptorium :

 

http://dfg-viewer.de/show/?set%5Bmets%5D=http%3A%2F%2Fmdz10.bib-bvb.de%2F%7Edb%2Fmets%2Fbsb00009600_mets.xml

.

Last edited on Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 05:34 pm by Carl Lavoie

Paul Ferguson
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 Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 05:01 pm
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I can't seem to find the passage in question. Presumably it is in the section on 'Thou shalt not steal'. In the Darmstadt manuscript the section starts in column B here ('Non furtum facies'):

http://tudigit.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/show/inc-iv-433/0467?sid=96cfeb30ad25f8ed24c3ce657e2ec52a

Last edited on Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 05:03 pm by Paul Ferguson

Carl Lavoie
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 Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 06:40 pm
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All right. The index gives 'ccliii' for Alchemy ... 

 

http://tudigit.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/show/inc-iv-433/0604?sid=96cfeb30ad25f8ed24c3ce657e2ec52a

 

... but Scot's reference was correct : fol. 244 [p. 487].

 

http://tudigit.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/show/inc-iv-433/0487?sid=96cfeb30ad25f8ed24c3ce657e2ec52a

 

Would you mind, Paul, to give us a little translation ?

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Paul Ferguson
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 Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 08:28 pm
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Thanks Carl!

The relevant page in the Bavarian State Library edition you linked to is 336 (left-hand column).

Well here's my effort anyway:

Ideo falsificantes aurum et argentum sunt falsarii monetarum, ut sunt alchemistae. Dicit Albertus in libro mineralium Avicenna dixisse, 'Sciant artifices alchimiae spes rerum transmutari non posse sed similia his facere, ut tingere rubrum citrino, ut aurum videat. Idem dicit Magister Egidius in quodlibetis suis, unde Franciscus Petrarchus libro primo 'De remediis utriusque fortunae' circa CX: Respondit discipulo dicenti, 'Spero alchimiae prosperos exitus'. Respondit: 'Minimum est unde id speres, quod nec tibi undique vere accidit, nec cuidam et si accidisse nonnullis fama fuit'.


Those who falsify gold and silver therefore are also counterfeiters, as are the Alchemists. As Albertus Magnus says in his 'Book of Minerals', quoting Avicenna: 'The Alchemical Artificers know that there is no hope of things actually being transmuted, but instead hope to create things that are similar to other things, such as for example by tingeing red with citrine so that it looks like gold. Master Egidius says the same thing in his various works. And this is why Petrarch, in the first book of his 'De remediis utriusque fortunae' ('Remedies for Fortune Fair and Foul), around Chapter 110 or so, mentions that when a pupil expressed the hope of some day enjoying prosperity through Alchemy he replied: 'What you hope for is actually the very least of things, because it will not truly come to you, nor to any man, and if it ever has done then fame certainly came only to the few'.

Last edited on Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 11:25 pm by Paul Ferguson

Carl Lavoie
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 Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 10:46 pm
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Merci mille fois, Paul !

 

-C.


P.S.: I skimmed the section and the columns B and C of fol. 244 are the relevant ones.
.

Last edited on Mon Jan 23rd, 2012 02:12 pm by Carl Lavoie


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