Alchemy as a Theatre of Eternal Wisdom

Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae. Magdeburg: Levinus Braun, 1608 (1609). Fol.

This work by the physician Khunrath (1560-1605) is one of the most sought-after of the alchemical-theosophical works that were influenced by Paracelsus. Of the nine engravings on conjugate leaves, the four circular ones were already used in the rare first edition of 1595 (only three copies known). They were reduced in size by cutting away the engraved text which surrounded them. One of these (all cut by Paulus van der Doort), the laboratory-oratory, was designed by the architectural painter Hans Vredeman de Vries. Of the extra, newly designed ones for this edition, the one showing the mockers of alchemy as monsters in the style of Hieronymus Bosch, also deserves a closer look.