The Art of Distillation by John French (1651)

I am pleased to announce that The Art of Distillation is now available as Volume 15 in The R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy.

John French (1616–1657) was an English physician known for his contributions to chemistry (in particular, distillation) as well as for his English translations of Latin and German works.

            He was born in 1616 at Broughton, near Banbury, Oxfordshire. He obtained a B.A. degree from Oxford University in 1637 and an M.A. in 1640, qualifying as a physician with an MD in 1648. He died in 1657 near Boulogne while serving as a physician to the English army.

            John French is chiefly remembered for publishing in 1651 The Art of Distillation, which is possibly the earliest detailed book on distillation. It is thought to be representative of the English chemistry of this period.

            John French was follower of Paracelsus’ school of alchemy/chemistry, which was skeptical of certain alchemical traditions yet dedicated to seeking medical uses for various chemicals and compounds. Note the frequent references to Paracelsus in this work.

This R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy edition includes more than 40 meticulously restored illustrations from the 1651 edition, and footnotes to help guide the student of Alchemy.
It is essential to the study of Alchemy that every student master the basic principles explained herein, and in particular the Four Degrees of Fire and the Terms of Art as defined in Book 1.

The R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy is published with permission of the Estate of Hans W. Nintzel.

Finally: Chemical Secrets and Experiments by Sir Kenelm Digby!

Chemical Secrets and Experiments

by Sir Kenelm Digby

1682

Volume 12 in the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy is now available. This classic R.A.M.S. work on Alchemy has been carefully reviewed,  and compared with the actual 1682 printed edition. All of the engravings were restored from the original printed edition, replacing the hand-drawn images used in the R.A.M.S. version.

Numerous typographical errors were corrected, including several missing symbols. Added footnotes indicate items of interest. For example, one sentence included the symbol for "fire" in both editions, but I believe it should have been the symbol for water. Hans Nintzel's original footnotes were preserved.

 The result is a new edition that also includes a small symbol table that shows the meanings of symbols used and verified with the 1682 edition. .

The R.A.M.S. Library edition is much improved over the original R.A.M.S. work. You should consider adding it to your collection!

The R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy is published with permission of the Estate of Hans W. Nintzel.

Ruesenstein's Processes in English!

 Selected Chemical and Universal Processes 

by Alexius von Ruesenstein. 

It is with great excitement that I have finally completed Volume 47 of the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy! This is exciting for two reasons:

1. The R.AM.S. edition is the only English edition of the work. The German version is available, but I have never found another English edition.

2. The contents are amazing! The Baron travels with five other Alchemists who exchange stories about their various Alchemical processes, while sharing their insights into the Art. Their stories are fascinating. Many Alchemical laboratory procedures are detailed with various alternatives discussed.

Here is a short example from a discussion about the  Philosophical Mercury:

Here is a section from the Foreward:

Oh happy child, discoverer of this book and of this treasure of philosophical secrets! Praise be to you. For you will become a wise artist. For this book will tell you everything that is hidden between heaven and earth in the treasure-house of the wise art. Because it is fitting that all books on our art should have a forward or explanation, I have added this foreword here, so that you will know what is hidden in this book. You should know that great universal works of various kinds are to be found in this book. You will discover nature itself.

This is one of the very best works in the R.A.M.S. Library, almost as good as The Golden Chain of Homer. I highly recommend this book to all students of Alchemy.

The R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy is published with permission from the Estate of Hans W. Nintzel.    

Alchemical Symbols

Many of the volumes in the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy include alchemical symbols embedded in the text. To show you what I mean, here is an example from a scan of the original manuscript produced by Hans W. Nintzel: paragraph 3, page 421 of The Golden Chain of Homer:

The Golden Chain of Homer is widely considered one of the best works on Alchemy. When Hans asked Frater Albertus which single book he would save if his library was burning, Frater immediately selected the Golden Chain. The above paragraph illustrates the complexity of studying such a work.

Many of the volumes in the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy contain few embedded symbols, while others are replete with symbols. The student of Alchemy would be well advised to obtain a copy of the volume, Alchemical Symbols early in the course of their studies. 

Here is another example. This is from the notebooks of Sigismond Bacstrom:

I interpret the above paragraph as:

                Take 1 ounce of your oil of antimony and 8 ounces of calcined lead, burnt to ashes according to art, imbibe your lead gradually with the oil and mix all well. Put it in a flat cementing crucible; and lute the cover on very tight. Put it in a furnace in digestion for 10 days.

While another interpretation is possible, this particular paragraph seems fairly straightforward. Once the student masters the basic symbols representing the planets, their associated metals, and other common symbols, the student can move beyond decoding the text and into interpretation and, perhaps, some level of understanding. 

Some may ask: If you can interpret these symbols, why not publish the texts in plain English instead of presenting them as Hans Nintzel did? To this I answer: I am not an expert on Alchemy. Alchemy has long been an interest of mine, but my goal is to disseminate these manuscripts for posterity. What I aspire to do is to present the works as accurately as possible.

The R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy is published with permission from the Estate of Hans W. Nintzel.

Welcome to the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy

Welcome to the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy. While the entire Library has not yet been released, I believe that there are now more than enough available volumes to start this hopefully informative blog. To date the Library contains over 8,000 pages of text.

You can find more details at the R.A.M.S. Publishing site.

R.A.M.S., the Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts Society, was formed in the 1970's by Hans W. Nintzel in Texas. R.A.M.S. became a loosely organized group of modern day alchemists, researchers, typists, translators, students and others who all shared Hans's intense interest in Alchemy.

Hans was a practicing Alchemist, and he instructed  fellow R.A.M.S. members in summer camps at his home. Hans's teacher was Frater Albertus, founder of the Paracelsus Research Society and Paracelsus College. Frater's main branch was in Utah. There is still a branch of Paracelsus College in Australia.

Hans had a goal of collecting only the most useful manuscripts on Alchemy. He retyped manuscripts with the help of others, preserved the symbols used in the original writings, and had texts translated into English when necessary. For the cost of postage and copying, Hans made the retyped books available to anyone who requested them. He died on December 3rd 2000.

Many volumes in the R.A.M.S. Library have symbols embedded in their text. Hans and his wife laboriously reproduced these symbols by hand, and I have reproduced them in the Library. Volume 21, Alchemical Symbols, is highly recommended to all students of Alchemy. This is my third edition of the work, with expanded symbol tables. It now includes the previously unpublished work,
“A French Alchemical Romance and Adventure” by Hans W. Nintzel.

The original R.A.M.S. Library consisted of over 60 manuscripts. As of today, the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy has 35 volumes available with many more in preparation. For example, Volume 5 is "Three Works of Ripley".

Sir George Ripley (circa 1415 – 1490) was an English Alchemist, author and Augustine canon. His Alchemical writings were studied by many notable people, including Robert Boyle (considered to be the first modern chemist), John Dee, and Isaac Newton. More than 200 manuscripts are attributed to Ripley. Most of them have never been published. The Three Works are:

The Compound of Alchemy; or, the Twelve Gates leading to the Discovery of the Philosopher's Stone (Liber Duodecim Portarum) was published in 1591 (London: Thomas Orwin). It was one of Ripley’s most popular works.

The Marrow of Alchemy, or Medulla philosophiæ chemicæ, was published in 1614 (Francofurti: J. Bringer).

Liber Secretissimus has the subtitle, “The Whole Work of the Composition of the Philosophical Stone and Grand Elixir, and of the First Solution of the Grosse Bodies.”

Here are the titles currently available in the R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy:

Volume	Title	Author or Editor
1	Twelve Keys of Basilius Valentinus	Basilius Valentinus
2	Triumphal Chariot of Antimony	Basilius Valentinus
3	His Secret Book	Artephius
4	The Golden Work	Hermes Trismegistus
5	Three Works of Ripley	George Ripley
6	Four Works of Paracelsus	Paracelsus
7	Bacstrom's Notebooks, Part 1	Sigismund Bacstrom
8	Bacstrom's Notebooks, Part 2	Sigismund Bacstrom
9	Summa Perfectionis	Geber (Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan)
10	The Five Centuries	Rudolph Glauber
11	The Greater and Lesser Edifyer	Johann Grashoff
12	Chemical Secrets and Experiments	Sir Kenelm Digby
13	The Turba Philosophorum	Arisleus
14 15 16 17	Das Aceton The Art of Distillation Non-Violent Destruction of the Atom Philosophical Furnaces	Christian Becker John French Hans W. Nintzel and Philip N. Wheeler Johann Rudolph Glauber
21	Alchemical Symbols, Third Edition	Hans W. Nintzel and Philip N. Wheeler
22	The Book of Formulas	John Hazelrigg
23	18 Short Tracts	Hans W. Nintzel
26	The Mineral Work	Johan Hollandus
27	The Vegetable Work	Johan Hollandus
28	Lamspring's Process	Lamspring
29	The Book of Abraham the Jew	Abraham Eleazar
30	Five Short Works of Glauber	Johann Glauber
31	The Metamorphosis of the Planets	Johannes Monte-Snyder
32	Four Works of Roger Bacon	Roger Bacon
33	The Golden Chain of Homer	Homerus, Kirchweger, Nintzel, Wheeler
34	Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored	Archibald Cochren
35	Aurifontina Chymica	John Houpreght
36	The Golden Fleece	Salomon Trismosin
37	The Transmutation of Base Metals into Gold and Silver	David Beuther
38	Sanguis Naturae	Christopher Grummet
39	A Revelation of the Secret Spirit	Giovanni Lambi
40	The Holy Guide, Part 1	John Heydon
44	Potpourri of Alchemy, Part 1	Hans W. Nintzel
45	Potpourri of Alchemy, Part 2	Hans W. Nintzel
47	Selected Chemical Universal and Particular Processes	Alexius von Ruesenstein

The R.A.M.S. Library of Alchemy is published with permission from the Estate of Hans W. Nintzel.
Last update 1/13/2017