Artephius

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Artephius , also Artefius, was a 12th century alchemist .

Artephius wrote in Latin but was familiar with Arabic literature on alchemy. Nothing is known about its origin. He often quotes the Arab alchemist Adfar (11th century, Alexandria, allegedly the teacher of Morienus ) and is quoted by Roger Bacon , so that his work is often placed in the middle between the two around 1150. Later, a manuscript of his main work Clavis Majoris Sapientiae was discovered, which suggests an originally Arabic author. Johannes Gildemeister identified him with the Arab alchemist and poet Al-Tughrai from the 12th century.

He had a reputation among alchemists as a master of gold making. Due to a translation error from Arabic, Ristoro d'Arezzo identified him with Orpheus in the 13th century .

From him comes:

  • Liber secretus de arte occulta atque lapide philosophorum (printed in Latin in Amsterdam 1678, Frankfurt 1685 and in French 1609, in English 1624 in London with a script by Nicolas Flamel , translated by an Eirenäus Orandus)
  • Clavis Majoris Sapientiae (Key to Higher Wisdom), first printed in Paris 1609 and then in Frankfurt 1614, in the Theatrum Chemicum (Volume 5) and in German translation in Nuremberg 1717 (and Leipzig 1736, 1748). It is identical to a font that appeared in the Theatrum Chemicum under the name of Alfonso X , but is of Arabic origin (Alfonso X only arranged for the translation).

He was also credited with a Tractatus de vita proroganda, claiming that the author could extend his life and was over 1000 years old.

He was often mistaken for Alphidius .

literature

  • Karl Christoph Schmieder : History of Alchemy, Halle 1832, p. 125ff
  • HD Austin: Artephius-Orpheus, Speculum, Volume 12, 1937, pp. 251-54.
  • G. Levi della Vida: Something More about Artefius and His Clavis Sapientiae, Speculum, Volume 13, 1938, pp. 80-85
  • John Ferguson, Bibliotheca Chemica, Glasgow 1906, Volume 1, pp. 50f
  • H. Buntz, 'Artephius', in Lexikon des Mittelalters , Volume 1, 1977, columns 1057-1058

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Levi della vida, Speculum , 13, 1938
  2. ^ Gildemeister, Journal of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, Volume 30, 538, quoted from Hermann Kopp , Alchemie, 1886, Volume 1, p. 100
  3. ↑ According to Schmieder's History of Alchemy
personal data
SURNAME Artephius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Artefius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Alchemist
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century or 12th century
DATE OF DEATH 12th Century