AMBIX,

Vol. 33, Part 2/3, November 1986

JOHN DASTIN'S LETTER ON THE PHILOSOPHERS' STONE

By WILFRED R. THEISSEN*

THERE are several alchemical works with the incipit Omne datum optimum et omne donum
perfectum.l Three different versions2 were written by John Dastin3 and are found in the
following manuscripts:

Version

I:

London, B. L. Sloane 513, fols. 189r-I91v

London, B. L. Harley 3542, fols. 44v-48r
Oxford, Bodleian L. Ashmole 1384, fols. 95v-97v

Version 2:

Paris, Bibl. de l'Arsenal 2890 (126 S.A.F.), fols. 35g--375

Oxford, Bod. L. Ashmole 759, fols. 3r-33"
Oxford, Bod. L. Ashmole 1493, fols. I3r-48r
This latter text is an English translation of this version,
very close to the previous text.

Version 3:

Oxford, Bod. L. Ashmole 759 fols. 58r-63v

That the first version, edited and translated below is indeed the work of John Dastin
seems a reasonable conclusion, since many passages in this version can be found in other
treatises generally recognized as his. For example Version I has numerous passages in
common with Version 2. There are also similarities between Version I and the Dastin work,
Speculum philosophie(D.
W. Singer # 286) as well as with Dastin's Liber philosophie, found in
Ashmole 1420, fols. 353-373.4 There are also various passages in Version I that correspond
to Dastin's Rosarius.5
Version 1 is not, however, just a compilation of passages from Dastin's other writings. It
appears to be his attempt to summarize his thoughts on the philosophers' stone, stressing the
need for a proper religious attitude before undertaking its pursuit.
In the Latin text below I have indicated conjectural passages or corrected passages by
including them within brackets [ ]. Corrections to the text were generally made by
comparison with Dastin's other texts that had similar material. Since the three manuscripts
agreed closely with each other, a complete textual apparatus is not included, but the major
departures from the edited text are noted. When alterations of or additions to the text
seemed to be required for the English translation, these are given in brackets as well.
Spelling of the Latin text corresponds to contemporary usage: carissime, for karissime; terrae,
for terre; quae, for que. Throughout the translation quicksilver is the translation for argentum
vivum and mercury for mercurium.

* Department

of Physics, Saint John's University, College of St. Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota 56312.

JOHN

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LETTER

ON

THE

PHILOSOPHERS

STONE

79

The Latin Text

A
B
C

=
=
=

Sloane 513
Ashmole 1384
Harley 3542
Epistola boni viri

Incipit epistola boni viri et sic liber vocatur recte.6

Gmne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est,7 descendens a patre
luminum, qui ex sua bonitate, innata omnia cum essent, ex nihilo creavit. Ex quibus natura
divers as species8 in esse produxit, quasdam completas, quasdam vero diminutas et
imperfectas. Quas quidem ut perficiant et in sua specie compleant artes diversae a diversis
philosophis sunt inventae.9 Quarum quidem alkimia a cunctis equid em philosophis posita,
metallorum diminutionem nititur perficere et eorum perfectionem indiminutam custodire.
Sed hoc completum magisterium secundum Platonem et Avicennam ac Aristote1em et
ceteros philosoph os ac rectam rationem est. Metalla decorare et colorare, intrare et,
examinationibus
non obstantibus, perman ere et inde perfecta a rebus comburentibus
et
corrupentibus
defendere, et adducereIO
perfectionis complementum.
Hoc autem sagaci
faciliter innotescunt, qui viam quaesierunt veritatis, sine qua nihil huius magisterii potest
haberi. Nam hoc donum a deo est, quia veritas est. Et sophisticis qui veritatem negligunt
non vult tan tam margaritam elargiri. Hinc est quod tu, carissime domine, huic magisterio
affectans insudare, non accedas eidem nisi men tern puram et deo dicatam habueris et ipsum
in tuum adiutorium suppliciter exoraveris. Nam quae dei sunt nulli homini largiuntur nisi
tantum electis et bonis. Invoco igitur in mei auxilium matrem dominum nostrum Jesum
Christumll ut manum meam dirigat et me sic lingua loqui faciat, quod ignorantes et invidi
ab hoc excellenti dei dono repellantur, et sapientes et studiosi effectum huius scientiae
consequan tur.
Verum, cum satis laboraverim ut scirem in ea semitam veritatis, non inveni verba nisi
tipica et quod est alienationi similius, sciens tamen possibile esse opus et artificium,
consequando naturam ut imperfecta perficiantur corpora, et ipsa ex naturalibus principiis
procreantur. Sed in dubium revocatur de lapide qui philosophorum dicitur, quomodo et ex
quo fiat, cum numquam in ventre terrae naturaliter generatur. In hoc tunc diversi diversa
senserint. Cum in uno solo consistat veritas, ipsam care reservabimus et omnia alia evitare
docebimus. Nam patet per philosophorum scripta rem unam esse, nec alienum quid sibi
adiungi debere. Quoniam, ut dicit Geber, "Ars nostra in rerum multitudine non persistit.12
Est enim lapis unus, medicina una, cui nihil extraneum introducitur, nec addetur, nee
minuetur, nisi quod superflua removeantur".
Investigantes13 igitur lapidem istum, quaerimus an sit mineralis, an vivens14 sensibilis,
an vegitabilis. Sed, ut dicit philosophus, "Generatio recta non fit nisi ex convenientibus in
natura". Nam homo generat hominem sicut unumquodque generat suum similem, sole et
aliis stellis erraticis sub deo virtuose regulantibus.
Non enim convenit rei nisi quod
propinquius est ei ex sua natura. Quoniam in habentibus simbolum facilior est transitus. 15
Planum est ergo quod non sit res vitalis, cum non sit propinquior minerali, eo quod omnia
convertenda per lapidem metalla habent esse unum. Rasis in libro de [secretis secretorum],16 postquam dixerat lapidem capillos humanos, dixit hoc totum tipicum est, cum
natura numquam operata fuit in capillis nec in aliis rebus vitalibus.

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Quomodo poterit17 hoc haberi per artem, cum ars, ut dicit philosophus, sit debilior
quam natura, nec consequitur earn, licet multum laboret? Presertim cum non sumuntur res
naturae -propinquiores quam mineralia. Ergo eligamus naturalius et propinquius iuxta
verbum Aristotelis in libro metheorum. Quoniam natura procreavit haec corpora ex fumo
argenti vivi et sulphuris vapore, a quo non invenies philosophorum aliquem discordantem.
Dic ergo mihi an sit propinquior lapidi res fortis non fugiens aut horum oppositum?18 Nonne
dicit Avicenna, "Lapis noster est pro sustentare ignem, pro facere de debili fortem, et de
fugiente flXum, pro reddere de malo bonum, de muliere masculum, pro solvere corpora et
indurare mercurium?"
Albebekar19 quoque ait, "Lapides nostri generantur in terra et comparantur terrae, quia
sunt mineralia terrae". Scias erg020 naturas lapidum et fortitudinem illorum et quis cuius sit
amicus sive inimicus, et operare cum magna subtilitate, suaviter et non festinanter. Et
videas quod cognoscas, quid ipse faceris, et antequam facies, vide quid facies. Grossum fac
gracile, ponderosum allevia,21 mollifica asperum, et dulcesse amarum. Et totum habebis
magisterium. Alkydes22 vero ait, "Accipite res a mineris suis et exaltate eas ad radices suas".
Et quid multa certe ut breviter multa concludam? Nullum philosophorum invenies ab hac
sententia discrepantem, si bene intellexeris eorum parabolas et figuras.
Patet ergo ad oculum lapidem nostrum esse minerale quoniam omnia a mineralibus
aliena igni cedunt et in favillam23 deficiunt. Sed advertendum est quod natura numquam
depuravit mineralia in tan tum quod eorum aliud potest esse vel dici lapis philosophorum.
Nec maiorem perfectionem eis potuit attribuere quam soli et lunae. Quomodo ergo poterit
ars hoc facere, cum ipsa sit debilior quam natura? Certe causa non est alia quare non facit
naturaliter sicut artificialiter, nisi quia res ex qua fit secundum naturam motum non habet
per quem ipsum generat natura, licet sibi attribuatur per artem? Unde dicit medicus in
turba, "Quamvis hic lapis noster iam in se tincturam naturaliter contineat, nam in corpore
terrae perfecte creatus est, attamen per se motum non habet nisi perficiatur arte vel
operatione". Geber etiam, in libro radicum24 dicit, "Ad hoc fit operatio in lapide nostro ut
melioretur eius tinctura plusquam est in sui natura." Igitur sicut mineralia terrae in terra
nascuntur, ita lapis noster arte et operatione perficitur. "Non enim est differentia", ut dicit
Aristoteles, "utrum hoc fiat in organis naturalibus vel artificialibus. Nam ars imitatur
naturam et in quibusdam corrigit et superat earn, sicut iuvatur natura infirm a medicorum
industria" .
Animadverte igitur bene ad ea quae dicit philosophus, "Quoniam non est motus ab
extrema ad extremum nisi per medium." Vide ergo naturam medii in quo semper est
continentia extremorum. Extrema autem metallorum sunt sulphur et argentum vivum ex
uno latere, et elixir philosophorum ex latere alio. Considera ergo an sit propinquius tempori
messium tempus spicarum aut seminandi. Et introductionem animae in corpus, conversio
massae sanguinaee in carnem et ossa, an spermatis procreatio? 0 carissime, non oberres nec
credas me dicere aliud esse lapidem quam sulphur et argentum vivum. Ipsa namque sunt
origo et principium omnium ductibilium. Verumtamen
inveniuntur aliqua aliis magis
depurata, naturaliter digesta et dococta et illa sunt propinquiora, ut te, carissime, non credo
ignorare.
Intellige quae dico quia non loqui nisi de magisterio. Adverte ergo bene ad ea quae
dicunt philosophi. Euclides namque dicit, "Consulo tibi ut non operaris nisi in mercurio et
sole et mercurio et luna quoniam25 totum beneficium huius scientiae consistit in mercurio et
sole et mercurio et luna." Et illud ideo quia tinctura ex compositis est, quamvis ex simplici

JOHN

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81

constari potest. Et ideo dicit Maria, "Accipe gummum album et gummum rubrum, quod est
tinctura maior et kybrith26 philosophorum, et eorum aurum. Matrimonifica gummum cum
gummo vero matrimonio, et totum habebis magisterium". Quonium ut dicit Merlinus:
Candida si rubeo, mulier sit nupta marito
Mox coplextuntur, complexaque concipiuntur
Per se solvuntur, per se quoque perficiuntur.
Dt duo qui fuerant, unum quasi corpore fiant.
Sed dentes diaboli27 isorum faciunt matrimonium.
Quoniam sine illis vir non acceptaret
mulieris amplexus nec cum ea concuberet nec ipsa conciperet nec ille generaret. Fac ergo
unguentum de mercurio cum sulphure et blanketo28 et toum habebis magisterium.
Idcirco, ut dicit Costis29 in turba, "Iungite masculum servi rubri filium sorori suae albae
multae odoriferae et vobis artem gignent". Et nolite eis alienum introducere, nec pulverem,
nec rem aliquam. 0 quam pretiosa et mirifica est servi huius rubei natura! Ipsa est sine qua
regimine constare non protest. Dico igitur cum Pandophilo, quod non est corpus dignius sale
aut purius eo et eius umbra, sine quibus nullum venenum tingens generatur. [Qui 30]vero
sine eis venenum philosophorum
[volunt, in vanum 31]componere nititur.
Caecus procedit ad practicam sicut asinus ad cenam. Asinus vera nescit quod corned it nisi
per gustum. Nec isti sciunt quid faciunt nisi per tactum. Iudicant enim de operibus sicut
caecus de coloribus. Ignorans ignoranter serit colloquintidam32
et sperat inde mel
comedere. Sed numquam sambucus profert pira nec rubeus mala generate Numquam
colligunt de spinis uvas aut de tribulis ficus? Certe non. Non enim afferunt res nisi similia nec
fructificant arbores nisi fructus suos. Nam33 arbores de quibus sunt se porn a commesta
figurant. Quae enim seminaverit homo, haec et metet34 quoniam si seminaverit lolium non
metet inde triticum.35 Nam germen suo semini corespondet. Quia omne arbustum et
quicquid tenetur radicitus terrae affixum, affert fructos iuxta genus suum.
Et ideo, ut dicit Avicenna, "Nisi solem et lunam viderem, pro certo dicerem quod non
esset magisterium verum. Sed36 quia solem et lunam video, certissime scio quod ars est vera
et magisterium verum." Res vero cuius caput est rubeum, pedes albi, oculi vero nigri, est
magisterium. 0 felicissime, non oberres, nec perturbent te philosophorum haec verba vel
alia consilia philosophorum.
Quoniam semper de mercurio et sulphure volunt eam
intelligere scientiam. Non enim curant de nominibus sed de nominis utilitatibus. Quoniam
tantum est apud eos dicere aurum et argentum ac si dicerent sulphur et mercurium. Scito
igitur, ut dicit Avicenna, quod levamen est fermentum auri vel argenti et non est aliud
fermentum super terram.
Et ideo lapidem nostrum preparamus ut sulphur et mercurium habeamus munda37 de
ista materia. De qua aurum et argentum efficiebantur38 subtus terram. Idcirco Hermes
dixit, "Pater eius est sol et39 mater eius est luna." Geber quoque ait, "Aurum est
pretiosissimum metallorum et est tinctura rubedinis quae transformat omne corpus". De
luna vera dicit quod est albedinis tinctura. Rasis itaque ait, "Sol est fermentum totum
connectens ad sui naturam." De luna equidem dicit quod ipsa est corpus elixiris albi et
magni corporis. Non ergo perturbent te haec verba vel alia consilia, quia lapis nihil aliud est
quam masculus et femina, sol et luna, calor et frigus, sulphur et mercurium.
Non cures de elixiriis Platonis et Tulii, Avicennae vel Galieni,4o quoniam semper volunt
intelligere de mercurio et sulphure, non autem tan tum de uno istorum. Quia materia non
operatur sine forma nec forma sine materia. t illud ideo quia feminae a feminis non

WILFRED

THEISSEN

concipiunt nee masculi a masculis gignunt. Quoniam ut dicit Aristoteles, "Generatio enim
est ex compositis, ut ex maribus et feminis, maribus namque feminas ducentibus". Natura
gaudet naturam et it generatio vera. Naturas ergo alienis inepte coniungentes naturis,
[qualiter41] veritatem gigui42 [speratis]?43
Coniunge ergo ilium tuum Gabrium, a te omnibus filiis dilectiorem, cum sorore sua
Beia44 suavi et tenera. Nam quamvis Gabrius sit carior Beia,44 generatio tam en non it
absque ea, nec convenit quidem, ut dicit Morienus, "Non ad effectum huius lapidis
pervenietur donec sol et luna in uno corpore coniunguntur".
Quod numquam erit nisi deus
voluerit. Idcirco, carissime, cura et vide quid loquor, quia si comederis de ilio cuius mater
est leprosa, sic leprosus esset tu, et opus tuum. De pinguiore carne comede et eris fortis in
ignis examinatione.
Et habebis ova gallinarum nigrarum. Et coniunge ea cum aere et
habebis aurum et argentum, quantum tu volueris ipse.
o felicissime, si vobis non dixero nomen lapidis, non redarguatis me, quoniam ipsum
vobis sub clave silencii aperte nominavi etiam quod in omni re est. Quomodo nominari
potest, nam sine ipso vita non est animalium nec plantarum? Ipso autem remoto a re
quacumque, statim sequitur mortis corruptio et vitae privatio. Igitur non oberres, carissime,
quoniam si es ex hiis qui, ut dicit Plato, "exierunt a termino animalitatis", sufficit vobis quod
dixi superius. Nam corporibus aliis non indigetis uti45 ,quam sole et luna, cum ipsa sunt
purioris naturae et fortioris temperantiae. Ipsa namque assimilantur magis quaesitae. Sed
indiges quod in solutione eorum labores. Nam primus gradus preparationis eorum est ut
fiant argentum vivum. Notate ergo verba, signate misteria, quoniam hoc opus declarat quid
sit lapis, cum principium sui operis sit dissolutio ipsius. Si vero fuerit ex primis principiis
mineralium, oportet primo sublimare, calcinare et figere, ut sic demum ea solverentur in
mercurio. Quod Platoni et aliis philosophis est contrarium. Verumtamen non intelligas me
dicere contradicta philosophorum. Quoniam omnia metalla generantur in terra ex sulphure
et mercurio. Intellige ergo quae dico, quia ad deum te commendo. Amen.46
The Letter of a Good Man
Here begins the Letter of a Good Man and this is the correct title.
Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights,
who, out of his own goodness, created all things even though they were still unborn. Of these,
nature produced diverse species--...;some fully developed, some however lesser and imperfect.
To bring these latter to perfection and wholeness according to their own species, various arts
have been developed by different philosophers. Of these arts, alchemy, established indeed by
all the philosophers, strives to bring to perfection what is incomplete in the metals, and to
preserve their perfection undiminished. Moreover, this perfect practice is in agreement with
Plato, Ibn Sina, Aristotle, as well as the rest of the philosophers and right reason itself. [It
teaches] how to beautify, color, and enter into metals, how to keep them unchanged under
any tests, and furthermore how to guard their perfection from [destruction] by flames and
corruption, and to bring them to ultimate perfection. This however the wise readily
recognize, those who have sought the way of truth, without which no part of this process can
be grasped. For this gift is from God, because it is the truth. He does not wish to grant such a
great pearl to those pseudo-wise who neglect the truth. Thus it is that you, beloved master,
who desire to struggle with this process, ought not approach it unless you have a mind that is
pure and dedicated to God, and humbly beseech him for help. For those things that are of

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ON THE

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STONE

God are granted to no men, except the good and the elect. Therefore I call upon our mother
and lord Jesus Christ for help, that he may direct my hand and make me speak with my
tongue in such a way that the ignorant and envious may be kept from this excellent gift of
God, and the wise and studious may achieve the result of this science.
Indeed, although I have worked hard enough to recognize the path of truth in this
science, I have found only figurative expressions, and what seems rather strange.
Nevertheless, I know that the work and skill is possible; by following nature bodies may be
produced from natural beginnings and imperfect ones may be perfected. But how that which
is called the philosophers' stone comes into existence, and from what it comes, can be called
into question, since it is never produced in the earth naturally. With regard to this, different
ones express different opinions. Since truth resides in only one of them, we shall carefully
protect it and shall teach how to avoid every other [teaching]. For it is clear from the
philosophers' writings that the truth is one, and nothing else should be added to it. Because
as J abir says, "Our art does not consist of a multitude of things. There is one stone, one
medicine, to which nothing extraneous is introduced, nor added; nor is it reduced, unless

superfluities are to be removed."

As we search for this stone we ask whether it is mineral, or living with the power of
sensation, or vegetable. But, as the philosopher says, "Proper generation does not occur
except from a natural union". For man generates man, as everything generates what is like
itself, the sun and the other wandering stars beneath God dutifully in control. For one thing
does not come together with another unless it is by its nature quite close to it. Because the
union is easier for those which possess something in common. It is therefore plain that [the
philosophers' stone] may not be something vital, [seeing it may not be the nature] nearest to
metals, because all the metals to be transmuted by the stone must have one nature [with it].
After al-Razi had said, in the book on the Secret o/Secrets, that the stone was human hair, he
stated that this was merely a figure of speech, since nature never worked with hair or any
other vital material.
How can this [skill] be achieved through art, since art, as the philosopher says, is weaker
than nature, nor does it match nature's skill, even with much labor? Especially since no
objects closer to nature are employed than metals. Therefore let us select what is most
natural and closest to nature, following the prescription of Aristotle in the Book of Meteors.
For nature creates these bodies from the fumes of quicksilver and the vapor of sulphur, a fact
undisputed by any philosopher. Tell me, then, whether a strong [incombustible] thing is
closer to the stone, or the opposite of these? Doesn't Ibn Sina say, "Our stone is to sustain
fire, to make the weak strong, the uncertain firm, to bring good out of evil, maleness out of a
woman, to dissolve bodies, and harden mercury"?
Albebekar also says, "Our stones are formed in the earth and are like the earth, because
they are minerals of the earth." Albumazar says, "May you know, therefore, the natures of
the stones, their strength, and what is a friend of them or an enemy. [May you learn] how to
work with the greatest subtlety, delicately and without hurry. And may you recognize what
you know, what you are about to do; and before you do it, consider what you are going to do.
Make what is gross, fine; what is heavy, light; what is coarse, soft; what is bitter, sweet. And
then you will possess the entire process." Indeed Al-kindi says, "Take materials from their
ores and raise them to their roots." How can I summarize so many things, with both brevity
and accuracy? You will not find any philosopher in disagreement with these ideas, if you
grasp the meaning of their parables and symbols.

WILFRED

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One can see, therefore, that our stone is mineral, because everything other than minerals
are susceptible to destruction by fire and turn to ashes. But it should be noted that nature [by
itself] never purified metals; otherwise one or the other of them could be called or even be the
philosophers' stone. Nor can one attribute greater perfection to them than to the sun or
moon. How, then, can art do this, since it is weaker than nature? Surely is there not some
other reason why what it does not do naturally it does artificially than [the fact thatJ an
object which lacks a natural inclination towards generation may receive this impulse from
art? Hence the doctor states in the Crowd, "Although this stone of ours does naturally possess
the tincture in itself (for it is perfectly formed in the body of the earth), nevertheless it does
not have the motion in itself unless it be perfected by art and labor." Jabir also, in the Book of
Roots, says, "Working with our stone is for this purpose-that
the tincture may be improved
beyond what it is naturally." Therefore as the earth's minerals are born in the earth, so is our
stone perfected by art and labor. "It makes no difference," says Aristotle, "whether this
comes about by natural methods or artificial ones." For art imitates nature, and in certain
respects corrects and supercedes it, as weak nature is helped by the efforts of the physicians.
Pay careful attention, therefore, to what the philosopher says, "There is no motion from
one extreme to the other except through a medium." Consequently, see what the nature of
the medium is that connects the two extremes. For the extremes of the metals are sulphur
and quicksilver at the one end and the elixir of the philosophers at the other. Therefore
consider whether the time of sowing or the time when the corn produce ears is nearer to the
harvest time. Is the conversion of bloody matter into flesh and blood the creation of the
sperm-or [due toJ the soul beingjoined to the body? 0 beloved one, do not make a mistake,
or think that I claim the stone to be anything other than sulphur and quicksilver. For they
are the source and beginning of all ductile [metals J. Nevertheless, some things are found,
purer, more naturally digested and reduced than others, which are even closer [to the stoneJ,
as you, beloved, well know I am sure.
Understand what I am saying, because I am only describing for you the process. Take to
heart what the philosophers say. For example, Euclid says, "I advise you to work only with
mercury and the sun, and with mercury and the moon, because the entire advantage of this
science consists in mercury and the sun and mercury and the moon." This is so because the
tincture is composite, although it can be produced from a simple [substance]. And so Maria
says, "Take white gum and red gum which is the greater tincture and the yellow sulphur of
the philosophers, and their gold. Wed one gum with the other by a true marriage, and you
will have the complete process." For as Merlin says:
If the white is married to the red as the woman to the man,
Soon they embrace; embracing, they are wed,
Dissolving into each other, also perfecting each other,
So that what were two become as it were one body.
But the devil's teeth bring about the marriage. Because without them a man would not
accept a woman's embrace, nor lie with her. Nor would she herself conceive nor he beget.
Therefore make oil from mercury with sulphur and a whitener and you will have the
complete process.
Therefore, as Costis says in the Crowd, "Join the male, i.e. the son of the red servant, to his
white, very fragrant sister, and you will bring about the art for yourselves." Do not add to
them any foreign object, neither powder nor anything else. 0 how precious and mervellous is

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the nature of this red servant! Without this the process cannot occur. I claim, therefore,
along with Pandophile, that there is no body with greater dignity than the sun, or purer than
it and its shade. Without them no tincturing poison is created. Because, indeed, without
them one strives in vain to make up the philosophers' poison.
As the ass goes to his dinner, so does the blind man undertake the task. Indeed, the ass
does not know what it is eating except by its taste. Nor do those know what they do, except
through touch. For they make judgments about their works as a blind man does concerning
colors. An ignorant person ignorantly sows colocynth and hopes to have honey for eating
from it. But the elder tree does not produce pears, nor does the bramble bush bring forth
apples. Does one ever collect grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? Certainly not. For
things bring forth only similar objects and trees do not bear any fruit except their own. For
the trees from which the edible fruit appear, are the cause of its shape themselves. For what a
man sows, is what he also reaps and ifhe sows cockle, he does not reap wheat from it. And
each shoot corresponds to its proper seed. Because every tree and whatever is rooted firmly
in the earth, brings forth fruit according to its proper genus.
And so, as Ibn Sina says, "Unless I see the terms sun and moon, I would surely say that
this is not the true teaching. But because I do see sun and moon, I most certainly know that the
art and process are true". Indeed, the object whose head is red, whose feet are white and eyes
black, is the process. 0 most happy one, do not err, nor let these words or any other advice of
the philosophers disturb you. For they wish always to understand that science [to be
founded on] mercury and sulphur. They are not concerned with names, but with the benefits
of names. For with them, to speak of gold and silver is the same as speaking about sulphur
and mercury. Be aware, then, as Ibn Sina says, that leaven is the ferment of gold or silver and
there is no other ferment on earth.
Consequently we prepare our stone in order to obtain sulphur and mercury from that
clean matter from which gold and silver are brought forth within the earth. For that reason
Hermes said, "Its father is the sun and its mother is the moon." Jabir also says, "Gold is the
most precious of the metals and is the tincture of redness, which transforms every body."
Concerning the moon, moreover, he says that it is the tincture of whiteness. AI-Razi
therefore says, "The sun is the ferment which makes everything like itself." Concerning the
moon he indeed states that it is the body of the white elixir and of the great body. Do not let
these words or any other counsels disturb you, because the stone is nothing other than the
male and female, sun and moon, heat and cold, sulphur and mercury.
Do not worry about the elixirs of Plato, Tullius, Ibn Sina or Galien, because they do
always wish to understand [the stone to be of both] mercury and sulphur, not, however from
only one of them. Because matter does not work without form nor form without matter. That
is so because women do not become pregnant from women, nor do men beget with men.
"For," as Aristotle says, "generation is from a mixture, as from men and women, the men
however taking the more prominent role over the women." Nature delights nature and a true
generation occurs. But if you improperly join unsuitable natures together, how do you hope
to bring about a true generation?
Thereforejoin your son Gabrius, your most beloved son, with his s\veet and tender sister
Beia. Now, although Gabrius is dearer than Beia, there will be no generation without her.
Indeed, it is not proper, for Morienus says, "The effect of this stone is not achieved until the
sun and moon are united into one body." Which will never occur unless God wishes it. And
so, beloved, take care and see what I am saying, because if you should eat of a leprous

86

WILFRED

THEISSEN

mother's son, you would also be leprous, and your work as well. Feed on the flatter flesh and
you will be brave under the test of the fire. And you will have the eggs of the black hens.Join
them with air and you will have gold and silver, as much as you wish.
most happy one, if I have not spoken the name of the stone, do not rebuke me, because
I have expressed it openly to you under the lock of silence, which is even required in every
matter. How can it be given a name, for without it there is no life in animals or plants? When
it is removed from any object whatsoever, the corruption of death and the privation of life
follow immediately. Do not err then, beloved, because if you are among those who as Plato
says, "have escaped from the limits of animality", what I have said above is sufficient for
you. For you will not need to use any other bodies than the sun and the moon, since they are
of the purest nature and strongest temperance. For when sought after they seem to be more
like one other. But it is necessary that you work in their solution. For the first step in their
preparation is that they become quicksilver. Note these words and observe the mysteries
because this work does state what the stone is, since the beginning of the work is the
dissolving of it. If indeed it were from the first beginning of minerals, it would be necessary
first to sublimate, calcinate and to fix them so that thus finally they may be dissolved in
mercury. Which is contrary to Plato and other philosophers.
Nevertheless,
do not
understand me as contradicting the philosophers. Because all metals are generated in the
earth from sulphur and mercury. Understand what I say, because I commend you to God.
Amen.

REFERENCES

See Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science 8 vols. (New York: Columbia Univ. Press,
1923-58) III, 629; Lynn Thorndike and Pearl Kibre, A Catalogue of lncipits of Mediaeval Scientfic Writings in Latin
(London: The Mediaeval Academy of America, 1963), col. 982; Dorothea Waley Singer Catalogue of Latin and
Vernacular Alchemical Manuscripts in Great Britain and Ireland 3 vols. (Brussels: Lamertin, 1928-31] # 381. The
tract listed by Singer as # 373, as due to Merlin is merely composed of excerpts from Version 1 listed below.
2. See William Henry Black, Catalogue of the Ashmolean Manuscripts (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1845) cols. 370,
371, 1376.
3. AlsoJohn Daustin, Dastyn, Dasten, Danstyn, Dawstyn, Dasciri. MS Ashmole 1445, fol. 53rofsection VIn has
biographical notes on Dastin.
4. This text is not listed in Singer but is identified in Black as a letter of Dastin, and is the same text as # 281 in
Singer, a text Singer to ascribed to Dastin ..
5. See Tractatus aliquot chemici (Geismar, 1647), the fourth treatise of which is Johannis Daustenii, Rosarium
secretissimum philosophorum, pp. 1-100. The work following this is Dastin's Visio. The passages in the Rosarium that
correspond to passages in Version I are found on pages 6, 10, 12, 18,21, 22, 23, 36, 37, 73, 78.
6. A, B omit title and incipit.
7. B omits desursum est.
8. species A operationes.
9. sunt inventane A, C inveniuntur.
10. adducere A perducere.
I I. matrem dominum nostrumjesum christum A matrem dominum B meum matrem (?) deum
12. persistit A perficitur B perficit.
13. after investigantes C adds de investigatione lapidis.
14. after vivens C adds secundum dicta philosophorum.
15. transitus B transmutatio.
16. The MSS are unreadable here; since al-Razi discusses hair in the Secret of Secrets I have conjectured this may be
the proper reference. See Julius Ruska, "Ubersetzung und Bearbeitungen von al-Razis Buch Geheimnis der
Geheimnisse," Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Medzin, 4 (1935), 16, 32.
1.

JOHN

DASTIN'S

LETTER

ON THE PHILOSOPHERS

STONE

17. A omits from poterit to debilior quam.

18. oppositum A eompositum.
19. In other texts of Dastin this same quotation is ascribed to Albumazar.
20. A adds ut dicit tineolum (?).
21.
22.

23.
24.

25.

26.
27.

28.
29.
30.

31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

41.

42.
43.
44.

45.
46.

for allema, which all MSS have.

a medieval form for al-Kindi.
favillam Afamiliam.
Ashmole 1493, fol. 13r has this interesting note in the margin: "Hence it appears that the Book of Roots hath
been wrongfully by most attributed to Geber (as some of the learned chemists have also perceived, though they
could not discover the right author) and it is Dastin's genuine piece, both by the style and coherence of the same
bookes of this worke." The Latin text of Version 2 does not, however, at least in Ashmole 759, use the title tiber
radicum anywhere.
B omits quoniam ... luna.
Arabic for yellow sulphur.
dentes diaboli, symbol for sal ammoniac.
blanketum is also spelled blanchimentum or bianchimentum, a bleach or whitening agent.
alternate form: Custos.
MSS have quoniam.
MSS all omit volunt in vanum.
colloquintida is an alternate form for eolocynthis.
C omits Nam ... metet.
Quae. . . metet A cum enim seminaverit lolium non metet inde triticum.
quoniam ... triticum omitted by A.
Sed ... verum omitted by C.
B omits.
efficiebantur C confieeri.
B, C omit et ... luna.
Possibly a corruption for Balini, an Arabic corruption of the name Appolonius ofTyana, the author of The Seeret
of Creation, an alchemical work widely circulated in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. See Robert P.
Multhauf, "The Science of Matter", in David C. Lindberg, ed., Sciencein the Middle Ages (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1978), p. 375.
MSS have qualem.
gigui in MSS, should perhaps be gigneri.
MSS have spermatis.
MSS undecipherable.
A omits uti ... indiges.
A adds expLicitftndamentum alkimie et tota perftetio si reete intelligas.