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* * * * *
* * * *
* * * * *
The
Book of Quinte Essence
or
The Fifth Being;
That is to say,
Man’s Heaven.
A tretice in englisch breuely drawe out of þe book of quintis
e{ess}encijs in latyn, þ{a}t hermys þe p{ro}phete and
kyng of Egipt, aft{er} þe flood of Noe
fadir of philosophris, hadde by
reuelaciou{n} of an aungil
of god to him
sende.
Edited from
British Museum MS. Sloane 73
about 1460-70 A.D.
by
FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL
_Published for_
THE EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY
_by the_
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON · NEW YORK · TORONTO
FIRST PUBLISHED 1866
REVISED EDITION 1889
REPRINTED 1965
Original Series, No. 16
Reprinted in Great Britain by Richard Clay
(The Chaucer Press) Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk
* * * * *
The odd account of the origin of this Treatise--in its first
lines--caught my eye as I was turning over the leaves of the Sloane
Manuscript which contains it. I resolved to print it as a specimen of
the curious fancies our forefathers believed in (as I suppose) in
Natural Science, to go alongside of the equally curious notions they
put faith in in matters religious. And this I determined on with no idea
of scoffing, or pride in modern wisdom; for I believe that as great
fallacies now prevail in both the great branches of knowledge and
feeling mentioned, as ever were held by man. Because once held by other
men, and specially by older Englishmen, these fancies and notions have,
or should have, an interest for all of us; and in this belief, one of
them is presented here.
The loss of my sweet, bright, only child, Eena, and other distress, have
prevented my getting up any cram on the subject of Quintessence to form
a regular Preface. The (translated?) original of the text is attributed
to Hermes--Trismegistus, “or the thrice great Interpreter,” so called as
“having three parts of the Philosophy of the whole world”[1]--to whom
were credited more works than he wrote. The tract appears to be a great
fuss about Alcohol or Spirits of Wine; how to make it, and get more or
less tipsy on it, and what wonders it will work, from making old men
young, and dying men well, to killing lice.
The reading of the proof with the MS. was done by Mr. Edmund Brock, the
Society’s most careful and able helper. To Mr. Cockayne I am indebted
for the identification of some names of plants, &c.; and to Mr. Gill
of University College, London, for some Notes on the Chemistry of the
treatise, made at the request of my friend Mr. Moreshwar Atmaram.[2] The
Sloane MS. I judge to be about, but after, 1460 A.D.[3] The later copy
(Harleian MS. 853, fol. 66) seems late 16th century or early 17th,[3]
and has been only collated for a few passages which require elucidation.
The pause marks of the MS. and text require to be disregarded
occasionally in reading.
EGHAM, _16th May, 1866_.
P.S. The short side-notes in inverted commas on and after p. 16 (save
‘5 M^e’ and the like) are by a later hand in the MS. The ‘Spheres’ on
p. 26, and the ‘Contents,’ p. vii-viii, are now added.--F. 1889.
[Footnote 1: _The Mirror of Alchimy_, composed by the thrice-famous
and learned Fryer, Roger Bachon, 1597.]
[Footnote 2: Mr. M.A. Tarkhad has been for many years Vice-Principal
of the Rajkumar College, for the sons of the native Chiefs of
Rajkote.--1889.]
[Footnote 3: Mr. E.A. Bond of the British Museum has kindly looked
at the MSS., and puts the Sloane at 1460-70 A.D., and the Harleian
at about 1600.]
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
BOOK I.
PROLOG: GOD’S GREATEST SECRET 1
QUINTE ESSENCE DEFINED: ITS QUALITIES 2
HOW TO MAKE QUINTE ESSENCE 4
1ST WAY 4
2ND WAY 5
3RD WAY 5
4TH WAY 5
5TH WAY 6
HOW POOR EVANGELIC MEN MAY GET THE GRACIOUS INFLUENCE OF GOLD 6
HOW TO GILD BURNING WATER OR WINE MORE THOROUGHLY 7
HOW TO MAKE FIRE WITHOUT COALS, LIME, LIGHT, ETC. 8
HOW TO CALCINE GOLD 8
HOW TO SEPARATE GOLD FROM SILVER 9
HOW TO GET ITS QUINTE ESSENCE OUT OF GOLD 9
HOW TO GET ITS QUINTE ESSENCE OUT OF ANTIMONY 10
HOW TO GET ITS QUINTE ESSENCE OUT OF MAN’S BLOOD 11
HOW TO GET ITS QUINTE ESSENCE OUT OF THE 4 ELEMENTS 12
HOW TO FIX ALL EARTHLY THINGS IN OUR QUINTE ESSENCE 13