I have known about this interesting manuscript for about 20 years. It dates from the late 17th or early 18th century and contains a Latin text and ten emblematic coloured paintings. Unfortunately I don't have access to the text, but luckily I have some copies of the illustrations from one of the four manuscripts known to me - Yale, Uberlingen, Prague and the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica.
The Mellon Catalogue says of the copy in Yale.
Marcus Eugenius Bonacina. Compendiolum de praeparatione auri potabilis veri. [Composed at Austerlitz in 1616 according to the dedicatory epistle directed to Laszlo Wellen, an imperial counsellor and chamberlain to Archduke Maximilian.]
The manuscripts however, seem all to date to the 18th century. Yale's is said to be c. 1790.
I would very much like to publish an edition of this in my Magnum Opus series as I find the images very engaging. As with many alchemical emblem series, this involves a series of bird symbols that appear to be taken through a transformation.
Nothing appears to be known of Bonacina or of the history of this work. I would welcome any information that anyone could share.
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 Last edited on Mon Feb 18th, 2008 10:47 pm by alchemyd
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