S P L E N D O R S O L I S
The Splendor Solis (the Splendour of the Sun) is the Lindisfarne Gospel of alchemy; and is generally considered to be the most magnificent treatise on the subject ever produced. The earliest version was written in Central German is dated 1532–1535 and is housed at the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin. This version is illuminated on vellum and is exquisitely painted and highlighted in gold with decorative borders in the manner of a book of hours. The later copies in London, Kassel, Paris and Nuremberg are equally fine. In all a mere twenty copies exist.
Authorship is credited to the legendary Salomon Trismosin who was purportedly the teacher of Paracelsus. The work consists of a sequence of twenty two magnificent images presented in decorative borders and trompe-l'œil niches. These fascinating visual allegories portray the symbolic death and rebirth of the king and incorporate a series of seven flasks, each associated with one of the planets and one of the seven processes of classical alchemy - calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation and coagulation, culminating in the legendary 'philosopher's stone'.
In the face of lethal persecution alchemists through the ages have gone to great lengths to preserve records of their life's work. To this end they have used a range of elaborate and guileful techniques; some more successful than others. To achieve immortality for his work, and to ensure transmission of the wisdom it contains to future generations, the author of the Splendor Solis has employed a simple and obvious strategy. He made it beautiful. Even the most zealous Inquisitor would hesitate before consigning this glorious volume to the flames.
The codex, dated 1582, (reproduced below) is housed in the British Library in London with shelf mark Harley MS 3469.
“The magnificent manuscripts of Splendor Solis are the crowning glory of any comprehensive alchemical library, or so the historian of alchemy imagines. Standing and lying in the shelves and cabinets all around are the works of the great alchemists amassed over a lifetime. But in the middle upon a lectern presides Splendor Solis, the pinnacle of alchemical expertise”.
Thomas Hofmeier (Alchemical Historian)
The edition of The Splendor Solis illustrated below was noted by John Evelyn (English writer, gardener and diarist) in the library of Charles II at Whitehall Palace on 2 September 1680 and was described by him as follows: "There is also the Processe of the Philosoph[e]rs greate elixir, represented in divers pieces of incomparable miniature; but the Discourse is in Dut[c]h and a MSS'.
Below are images of the 22 illuminations and the text of a Victorian reproduction of the manuscript by the mysterious 'J.K.'
Authorship is credited to the legendary Salomon Trismosin who was purportedly the teacher of Paracelsus. The work consists of a sequence of twenty two magnificent images presented in decorative borders and trompe-l'œil niches. These fascinating visual allegories portray the symbolic death and rebirth of the king and incorporate a series of seven flasks, each associated with one of the planets and one of the seven processes of classical alchemy - calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation and coagulation, culminating in the legendary 'philosopher's stone'.
In the face of lethal persecution alchemists through the ages have gone to great lengths to preserve records of their life's work. To this end they have used a range of elaborate and guileful techniques; some more successful than others. To achieve immortality for his work, and to ensure transmission of the wisdom it contains to future generations, the author of the Splendor Solis has employed a simple and obvious strategy. He made it beautiful. Even the most zealous Inquisitor would hesitate before consigning this glorious volume to the flames.
The codex, dated 1582, (reproduced below) is housed in the British Library in London with shelf mark Harley MS 3469.
“The magnificent manuscripts of Splendor Solis are the crowning glory of any comprehensive alchemical library, or so the historian of alchemy imagines. Standing and lying in the shelves and cabinets all around are the works of the great alchemists amassed over a lifetime. But in the middle upon a lectern presides Splendor Solis, the pinnacle of alchemical expertise”.
Thomas Hofmeier (Alchemical Historian)
The edition of The Splendor Solis illustrated below was noted by John Evelyn (English writer, gardener and diarist) in the library of Charles II at Whitehall Palace on 2 September 1680 and was described by him as follows: "There is also the Processe of the Philosoph[e]rs greate elixir, represented in divers pieces of incomparable miniature; but the Discourse is in Dut[c]h and a MSS'.
Below are images of the 22 illuminations and the text of a Victorian reproduction of the manuscript by the mysterious 'J.K.'
There is a PDF version of the Splendor Solice below: it may take a minute or two to load.
The British Library lists the following by way of provenance:
Charles II, king of England (b. 1630, d. 1685): a manuscript answering to 3469 was seen by John Evelyn in the library of Charles II at Whitehall Palace, 2 Sept. 1680, being described by him as follows: "There is also the Processe of the Philosoph[e]rs greate elixir, represented in divers pieces of incomparable miniature; but the Discourse is in Dut[c]h and a MSS'.
Johann Cyprianus (b. 1642, d. 1723), German theologian: inscribed with his name (f. 3* ).
Mrs Priemer, niece of Johann Cyprianus: inscribed with her name by Edward Harley (f. 3*).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.
Charles II, king of England (b. 1630, d. 1685): a manuscript answering to 3469 was seen by John Evelyn in the library of Charles II at Whitehall Palace, 2 Sept. 1680, being described by him as follows: "There is also the Processe of the Philosoph[e]rs greate elixir, represented in divers pieces of incomparable miniature; but the Discourse is in Dut[c]h and a MSS'.
Johann Cyprianus (b. 1642, d. 1723), German theologian: inscribed with his name (f. 3* ).
Mrs Priemer, niece of Johann Cyprianus: inscribed with her name by Edward Harley (f. 3*).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.