Description
The True and Perfect Preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone, by the Brotherhood of the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross
Sigmund Richter [Sincerus Renatus]; Dr. R. A. Gilbert.
The Teitan Press, York Beach, Maine USA, 2013. Hardcover. First Edition. Limited Edition, limited to 500 numbered copies. Small quarto (6 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches: approx. 17.1cm x 22.2cm), xiv + 82pp. Quality red cloth with gilt facsimile alchemical design and blind stamping to upper board, gilt titling to spine, b&w frontispiece. Sewn, printed on acid-free art paper. Black “coffin-silk” moire endpapers. Edited with an Introduction by Dr. R. A. Gilbert. Brand New.
The first English language publication of The True and Perfect Preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone, by the Brotherhood of the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross, an Alchemical / Rosicrucian work by Sigmund Richter that was originally published in Breslau in 1710. In appearance the work is very much that of an alchemical textbook, describing (in the symbolic / chemical terminology of the spagyrical adept) a series of operations which culminate in the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone and “all that is necessary to the Work Ordinis Minoris and Majoris.” As described by the editor, Dr. R. A. Gilbert, “The book has two distinct but related concerns. First, it sets out the stages by which the Brothers of the [Roscicrucian] Order can succeed in preparing, making and applying the Philosopher’s Stone, but at the same time it presents a sub-text that guides the brethren into a realisation that there is a more subtle purpose to the text. It is also a guide to a parallel, spiritual change that takes place within the practitioner as he progresses with his task: material transmutation is accompanied by spiritual regeneration.” The translation was probably made between 1950 and 1960 for J.W. Hamilton-Jones (1887-1965), one of a small circle of Rosicrucian enthusiasts who had founded a very private “Order of Rose +”, and editor of two alchemical works – “The Epistles of Ali Puli” (1951) and Bacstrom’s “Alchemical Anthology” (1960) and publisher of a translation of Dr. Dee’s “Hieroglyphic Monad” (1947). Includes an appendix “Laws of the Brotherhood” as published by Sincerus Renatus, and a seven page historical Introduction by Dr. R.A. Gilbert.
