Alchemical Queen

[Adam McLean]

This engraving  appears tipped into a copy of Oswald Croll's Chymisch Kleynod of 1647, though not into all copies. It may have been taken from another work, but it is clearly of that period and of alchemical import. I have not been able to identify its original source.
The central figure is a kind of Queen of Heaven, standing on the Moon, with the twelve keys to the zodiacal signs, and a halo of the seven planets.

The text on the right seems to say

"Fire connects white and red
in the new life the power is found"

while that on the right

"What dies through the spirit
cannot remain in the state of death
it will bring forth new fruits to life"


   

[Adam McLean]

At the lower right, there is a stylised, ornate frame which has a series of vertical bars and hatching. This seems unnecessary, but it may be that the printer having found the copperplate from another publication, decided to obliterate the contents of this frame.

   

[Paul Ferguson]

Here are some illustrations and a description of the Croll from an antiquarian book catalogue.