The Secret Book

By Artephius

Under the name of Artephius (or Artefius) lies the identity of an obscure medieval scholar and initiate to whom numerous alchemical texts are attributed. Although the roots of the texts are unclear and the identity of their author obscure, at least some of them are of Arabic origin.
Among the numerous alchemical treatises attributed to Artephius are Ars Sintrillia, Clavis Sapientiae or Clavis Maioris Sapientiae and the Liber Secretus (The Secret Book), which we propose to our readers today. It is undoubtedly one of the most interesting alchemical texts that have come down to us from the mists of an archaic past of wisdom and knowledge of the elements of nature and their transmutation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edizioni Aurora Boreale
• Release date: May 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9791255045892

Book preview

Immagine che contiene arte Descrizione generata automaticamente

SYMBOLS & MYTHS

ARTEPHIUS

THE SECRET BOOK

LOGO EDIZIONI AURORA BOREALE

Edizioni Aurora Boreale

Title: The Secret Book

Author: Artephius

Series: Symbols & Myths

With an introduction by Nicola Bizzi

Editing by Nicola Bizzi

ISBN: 979-12-5504-589-2

LOGO EDIZIONI AURORA BOREALE

Edizioni Aurora Boreale

© 2024 Edizioni Aurora Boreale

Via del Fiordaliso 14 - 59100 Prato - Italia

[e-mail]

www.auroraboreale-edizioni.com

INTRODUCTION BY THE PUBLISHER

Under the name of Artephius (or Artefius) lies the identity of an obscure medieval scholar and initiate to whom numerous alchemical texts are attributed. Although the roots of the texts are unclear and the identity of their author obscure, at least some of them are of Arabic origin.

Among the numerous alchemical treatises attributed to Artephius are Ars Sintrillia, Clavis Sapientiae or Clavis Maioris Sapientiae and the Liber Secretus (The Secret Book), which we propose to our readers today. It is undoubtedly one of the most interesting alchemical texts that have come down to us from the mists of an archaic past of wisdom and knowledge of the elements of nature and their transmutation.

Alchemical pseudepigraphy makes it difficult to identify who the historical Artephius might have been. His identity therefore remains an open question. Since The Secret Book of Artephius was respected and mentioned many times by Roger Bacon, it is believed that Artephius' writing can be dated to around 1150. A medieval author, Restoro d'Arezzo, confused Artephius with Orpheus in his work Composizione del Mondo (Composition of the World) in 1282. This error was due to a translation error, as the Arabic spellings of Orpheus and Artephius were very similar. This transcription error gave us Artephius, an alchemist without a historical personality.

Artephius has also been erroneously identified with Apollonius of Tyana, Stephanos of Alexandria, Al-Tughrai, and Ibn Umail, or with an unidentified Jewish convert. But the discovery of a 13th/14th century copy of the Clavis Sapientia confirms that the text was first written in Arabic by a Muslim author.

A Renaissance tradition held that Artephius had been born in the first or second century and died in the twelfth, thanks to having discovered the alchemical elixir that made it possible to prolong life. In his Secret Book, Artephius indeed claims to be more than a thousand years old!

In printed form, works attributed to Artephius became famous in the 17th century. A work entitled Artefii Clavis Majoris Sapientiae was printed in Paris in 1609. It would also subsequently appear in Volume IV of the Theatrum Chemicum, originally printed in 1613. Then, in 1624, Eirenaeus Orandus provided an English translation of the Secret Book.

Nicola Bizzi

Florence, May 10, 2024.

Immagine che contiene Viso umano, vestiti, persona, dipinto Descrizione generata automaticamente

Jacob Toorenvliet: Alchemist, 1684

(Leiden Collection)

THE SECRET BOOK

I

Antimony is a mineral participating of saturnine parts, and has in all respects the nature thereof. This saturnine antimony agrees with sol, and contains in itself argent vive, in which