Description
Book SynopsisThe production of forgeries under the name of the Swiss physician Paracelsus (1493/94-1541) was an integral part of the diffusion of the Paracelsian movement in early modern Europe. Many of these texts were widely read and extremely influential. The inability of most readers of the time to distinguish the genuine from the fake amid the flood of publications contributed much to the emergence of Paracelsus’ legendary image as the patron of alchemy and occult philosophy. Innovative studies on largely overlooked aspects of Paracelsianism along with an extensive catalogue of Paracelsian forgeries make this volume an essential resource for future studies. Contributors are Tobias Bulang, Dane T. Daniel, Charles D. Gunnoe, Jr., Hiro Hirai, Didier Kahn, Julian Paulus, Lawrence M. Principe, and Martin Žemla. Originally published as Special Issue of the journal Early Science and Medicine, volume 24 (2019), no. 5-6 (published February 2020), with a revised Introduction and a new Appendix by Julian Paulus, entitled “A Catalogue Raisonné of Pseudo-Paracelsian Writings: Texts Attributed to Paracelsus and Paracelsian Writings of Doubtful Authenticity,” has been added.
Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors List of Illustrations Introduction Didier Kahn and Hiro Hirai The Authenticity of Paracelsus’ Astronomia Magna and Brief an die Wittenberger Theologen: Towards a Diagnostic Rubric Clarifying Authentic and Spurious Elements in Paracelsus’ Oeuvre on the Basis of Theological Motifs Dane T. Daniel The Philosophia ad Athenienses in the Light of Genuine Paracelsian Cosmology Didier Kahn Genealogy of Knowledge and Delegitimization of Universities: The Pseudo-Paracelsian Aurora Philosophorum Tobias Bulang Into the Forger’s Library: The Genesis of De natura rerum in Publication History Hiro Hirai Paracelsus, the Plague, and De Pestilitate Charles D. Gunnoe, Jr. The Astronomia Olympi novi and the Theologia Cabalistica: Two Pseudo-Paracelsian Works of the Philosophia Mystica (1618) Martin Žemla The Development of the Basil Valentine Corpus and Biography: Pseudepigraphic Corpora and Paracelsian Ideas Lawrence M. Principe Appendix: A Catalogue raisonné of Pseudo-Paracelsian Writings: Texts Attributed to Paracelsus and Paracelsian Writings of Doubtful Authenticity Julian Paulus Index Nominum Indices to the Appendix
