THIS 24 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus Part 1, by Theophrastus Paracelsus. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766126218.

The edition presents the previously unpublished theological and religious writings of Paracelsus (1493a '1541) in eight volumes. After Luther and Melanchthon, Paracelsus was one of the most prolific Early High German writers, yet the Theologika were only partially accessible until today. The Zurich edition offers a reliable, critical edition of these writings, as well as word indices, introductions to the groups of works, etc. Paracelsusa (TM) non-medical writings comprise a first-class document of the intellectual history of the sixteenth century and are of great importance for language and literature historians, as well as for theologians and philosophers. Key features: presents the first complete edition of Paracelsusa (TM) theological and religious writings after Luther, Paracelsus was one of the most prolific Early High German Writers

Born near Einsiedeln in 1493, Philip Theophrastus von Hohenheim, who later called himself Paracelsus, was the son of a physician. His thirst for knowledge led him to study arts in Vienna, then medicine in Italy, but the instruction left him disillusioned. He had learned to see nature with his own eyes, undiluted by the teachings of books. He was a rebellious spirit, hard-headed and stubborn, who travelled all over Europe and the British Isles to practice medicine, study local diseases, and learn from any source he could, humble as it might be. In these years of wanderings, Paracelsus developed his own system of medicine and a philosophy of theology all his own. Though he wrote a great many books that covered a wide range of subjects, only a few of his works were ever published in his lifetime. When he died in Salzburg in 1541, one of the most forceful personalities of the Renaissance died with him.

Here are collected four treatises which illustrate four different aspects of Paracelsus' work. The first gives a passionate justification of his character, activities, and views, and gives a picture of the man and his basic ideas. The second treatise is a study of the diseases of miners, with whom Paracelsus had spent a great deal of time. Then follows a treatise on the psychology and psychiatry of Paracelsus. Written at a time when mental diseases were beginning to be studied and treated by physicians, this pioneering essay anticipates a number of modern views. The last essay, entitled "A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits," is a fanciful and poetic treatment of paganism and Greek mythology, as well as a good sample of Paracelsus' philosophy and theology. Together these essays show one of the most original minds of the Renaissance at the height of his powers.

Originaltext und ausfuhrlicher historischer und medizinischer Kommentar von Irmgard Muller

Hier handelt es sich um die erste Monographie uber die Krankheiten einer besonderen Berufsgruppe. Das Werk markiert den Anfang der arbeitsmedizinischen Literatur uberhaupt. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Lungenerkrankungen (Tbc, Lungenkrebs, Staublunge) sowie Metallvergiftungen (Quecksilber, Arsen, Schwefel, Kupfer, Blei, etc.) und die Herstellung chemischer Verbindungen als Heilmittel mithilfe alchemistischer Prozeduren. Die geistige Tradition des paracelsischen Krankheitskonzepts, in dem sich alchemistisches Wissen, Astrologie und magische Entsprechungslehre, antike Saftelehre und Qualitatspathologie zu einem neuen Verstandnis von Gesundheit und Krankheit vermischen, wird ebenso erlautert wie die Rezeptionsgeschichte dieses Querdenkers in der Medizin.

Irmgard Muller ist emeritierte Professorin fur Geschichte der Medizin an der Ruhr-Universitat Bochum.

"

The enigmatic sixteenth-century Swiss physician and natural philosopher Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus, is known for the almost superhuman energy with which he produced his innumerable writings, for his remarkable achievements in the development of science, and for his reputation as a visionary (not to mention sorcerer) and alchemist. Little is known of his biography beyond his legendary achievements, and the details of his life have been filled in over the centuries by his admirers. This richly illustrated anthology presents in modernized language a selection of the moral thought of a man who was not only a self-willed genius charged with the dynamism of an impetuous and turbulent age but also in many ways a humble seeker after truth, who deeply influenced C. G. Jung and his followers.