Hortulanus

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Hortulanus , also Ortholanus, was an alchemistic author, known as the author of a commentary on the main work of the mystical side of the alchemy Tabula Smaragdina , probably from the middle of the 14th century.

There is a comment by the English alchemist John Dombelay from 1386 in his Practica (printed in the Theatrum Chemicum ) on the comment of Hortolanus . The oldest manuscript from St. Gallen is also from the 14th century, as are the first references to the commentary in other writings. While older authors such as Schmieder date him very early (up to the 11th century) and identify with Johannes de Garlandia , Julius Ruska dates him to the middle of the 14th century.

The Tabula Smaragdina with the commentary by Hortulanus was first printed in 1541 in Nuremberg (De Alchemia).

He is also credited with a treatise on the lapis philosophorum (philosopher's stone ).

The name Hortulanus (gardener) could be a pseudonym for a pictorial description of an editor of alchemical texts. In the commentary there is the addition de hortis maritimis (from the sea gardens), which poses a riddle.

literature

  • William R. Newman: Hortulanus. In: Claus Priesner , Karin Figala : Alchemie. Lexicon of a Hermetic Science. Beck 1998, p. 183
  • John Ferguson: Bibliotheca Chemica. Volume 1, 1907, p. 419
  • Julius Ruska : Tabula Smaragdina. Heidelberg 1926 (the commentary by Hortulanus is printed in the original Latin p. 181ff)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William R. Newman in Priesner, Figala, Alchemie
  2. ↑ Ruska, Tabula Smaragdina, p. 193, cites the Rosarium Philosophorum and a pseudo- Avicenna font
  3. ↑ History of Alchemy, 1832, pp. 117ff. According to Ruska, p. 195, the date around 1040 and identification with Johannes Garlandus or Garlandius comes from the Compendium Alchemia , printed in Basel in 1560 , which appeared under the name of Garlandius. There is also a biography of Garlandius in the appendix, which refers to a monk Boston Buriensis, a Benedictine from the monastery Buri, who cataloged English monastery libraries, including a list of the works of Garlandus, in which the commentary of the tabula (recognizable in the first line) under Ortolanus.
  4. ↑ Tabula smaragdina, 1926, p. 193
personal data
SURNAME Hortulanus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ortholanus; Ortolanus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Alchemist
DATE OF BIRTH between 11th century and 14th century
DATE OF DEATH between 11th century and 14th century