And the substance of his teachings concerning Cosmology, Anthropology,
Pneumatology, Magic and Sorcery, Medicine, Alchemy and Astrology,
Theosophy and Philosophy. Extracted and translated from his rare
and extensive works and from some unpublished Manuscripts, by FRANZ
HARTMANN, M.D., author of “Magic,” &c.
“Paracelsus was a high priest among mystics and alchemists; he left
behind him one hundred and six treatises upon medical and occult
subjects, which are likely to be read by the curious as long as
mysticism remains a necessary study for whoever would trace the
developments of civilization.
“From some considerable acquaintance with the writings of Paracelsus,
we can say that Dr. Hartmann has made his excerpts from them with a
good deal of skill. Students, indeed, should be grateful for this
book, despite its setting of Theosophical nonsense; since to read
one of Bombast’s Latin or German treatises is a very stiff exercise
indeed, unless you are well versed in his very recondite terminology.
“Dr. Hartmann has compiled a very full and accurate glossary of
occult terms, which will be of great use to future readers of
Paracelsus; and for so much he is to be thanked.
“Dr. Hartmann quotes some of his recipes for transmuting metals
and producing the ‘electrum magicum.’ But Paracelsus is the most
transcendental of European mystics, and it is not always easy to know
when he is writing allegorically and when practically. Dr. Hartmann
says he has tried these prescriptions and found them all right;
but he warns the uninitiated against running the risk of blowing
themselves up in the endeavour to follow the master’s instructions.
“Paracelsus held firmly to the belief of some of the hermetic writers
of the Middle Ages, that it is perfectly possible to create human
beings by alchemical means; and he even gives directions (in his
treatise ‘De Natura Rerum’) for the production of homunculi.
“On the whole, however, Dr. Hartmann has produced a very amusing book
and a book which will have some permanent value to the student of the
occult.”--_St. James’s Gazette._
_64 pp., 8vo., wrapper, price 1s. 6d._