Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Illustrations
- Introduction
- Part I Ancient texts
- Part II Islamic and medieval texts
- Part III Renaissance and seventeenth-century texts
- 18 PARACELSUS (1493–1541): From Of the Nature of Things and Paracelsus His Aurora
- 19 FRANCIS ANTHONY (1550–1603): Aurum-Potabile: or the Receit of Dr. Fr. Antonie
- 20 MICHAEL SENDIVOGIUS (1566–1636 or 1646): From A New Light of Alchymie and A Dialogue between Mercury, the Alchymist and Nature
- 21 ROBERT FLUDD (1574–1637): From the Mosaicall Philosophy
- 22 GABRIEL PLATTES (first half of seventeenth century): A Caveat for Alchymists
- 23 JOHN FRENCH (1616?–1657): Preface to The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus in XVII Books
- 24 GEORGE STARKEY/EIRENAEUS PHILALETHES (1628–1665?): The Admirable Efficacy, and almost incredible Virtue of true Oyl; From An Exposition Upon Sir George Ripley's Epistle to King Edward IV
- 25 ELIAS ASHMOLE (1617–1692): From the “Prolegomena” to the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
- 26 ROBERT BOYLE (1627–1691): From An Historical Account of a Degradation of Gold Made by an Anti-Elixir: A Strange Chymical Narative
- 27 SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1642–1727): The Key (Keynes MS 18); The Commentary on the Emerald Tablet (Keynes MS 28)
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
21 - ROBERT FLUDD (1574–1637): From the Mosaicall Philosophy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Illustrations
- Introduction
- Part I Ancient texts
- Part II Islamic and medieval texts
- Part III Renaissance and seventeenth-century texts
- 18 PARACELSUS (1493–1541): From Of the Nature of Things and Paracelsus His Aurora
- 19 FRANCIS ANTHONY (1550–1603): Aurum-Potabile: or the Receit of Dr. Fr. Antonie
- 20 MICHAEL SENDIVOGIUS (1566–1636 or 1646): From A New Light of Alchymie and A Dialogue between Mercury, the Alchymist and Nature
- 21 ROBERT FLUDD (1574–1637): From the Mosaicall Philosophy
- 22 GABRIEL PLATTES (first half of seventeenth century): A Caveat for Alchymists
- 23 JOHN FRENCH (1616?–1657): Preface to The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus in XVII Books
- 24 GEORGE STARKEY/EIRENAEUS PHILALETHES (1628–1665?): The Admirable Efficacy, and almost incredible Virtue of true Oyl; From An Exposition Upon Sir George Ripley's Epistle to King Edward IV
- 25 ELIAS ASHMOLE (1617–1692): From the “Prolegomena” to the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
- 26 ROBERT BOYLE (1627–1691): From An Historical Account of a Degradation of Gold Made by an Anti-Elixir: A Strange Chymical Narative
- 27 SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1642–1727): The Key (Keynes MS 18); The Commentary on the Emerald Tablet (Keynes MS 28)
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
A recent editor of Robert Fludd describes him as “the most prominent Renaissance Christian Neoplatonist alchemist of his time, and the greatest summarizer and synthesizer of that tradition of his age” (Huffman 13). To these accolades may be added his successful practice of medicine in London – which, despite sharp attacks on Aristotle and Galen, eventually resulted in Fludd's admission to the Royal College of Physicians – and his championing of the Rosicrucians. He was attacked by such giants of the New Philosophy as Kepler, Mersenne, and Gassendi; however, William Harvey and William Gilbert were influential friends. Fludd published extensively but appears to have attracted greatest interest on the Continent; he is best known today for his extraordinarily detailed study of interrelationships between the macrocosm and microcosm, the Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris, metaphysica, physica atque technica historia, which directly reflects his religious and philosophical views and, accompanied by its exquisitely detailed engravings, first issued from the de Bry press in Oppenheim in 1617.
A sense of the range of Fludd's thought (with its frequent links to Paracelsus and the Neoplatonists) may be gained from his Mosaicall Philosophy, first published posthumously in Latin in 1638. Here may be noted, for example, his beliefs in the indebtedness of pagan philosophy to the writings of Moses; the Holy Spirit as the origin of all creation, which has its basis in the three “mosaic” principles of light, darkness, and a complex entity known as the “waters”; the world soul or anima mundi; man as microcosm; the doctrine of sympathies and antipathies; and the “magnetical” operation of the notorious cure known as the Weapon Salve.
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- The Alchemy ReaderFrom Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton, pp. 191 - 198Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003
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