Account of an alchemical roll on parchment, presented by the Earl of Cromarty in 1707 to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh / with notes by John Small, M.A.

  • Moncrieff, William, M.D., F.R.C.P.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of an alchemical roll on parchment, presented by the Earl of Cromarty in 1707 to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh / with notes by John Small, M.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    to Dr Ilibbert, the Secretary of the Society, an account of the figures it contains, which was read but not then printed. After some search the roll was discovered, and I have made inquiries with the view of ascertaining the nature of this curious document. So far as I can ascertain, it seems to be a copy of symbolical drawings originally made by George Ripley, one of the Canons of Bridlington, in the Diocese of York, a celebrated alchemist who flourished between 1450 and 1490, in which latter year he died. In Ashmole’s “ Theatrum Chemicum ” there are printed (p. 375), “ Verses belonging to an Emblematical Scrowle supposed to be invented by George Ripley.” These poems are nearly identical with those inscribed on the Roll; but the latter contains some others, while the language is somewhat more ancient than that found in Ashmole’s work. As the scroll is probably unique as we now find it, the following minute and accurate description of it by Dr Moncrieff is subjoined, to which I have added a few notes and references. A fac-simile of the Roll, for which the Society is indebted to the Royal College of Physicians, has been made by the photo-lithographic process of Messrs Waterston. Dr Moncrieff’s paper is as follows :— In the centre at the top is seen the face of a man with a long beard, as if looking down ; there is a cap on his head, which extends to the left upper corner. About three feet down, his hands may be observed, the thumb and fingers of his right hand as if holding back the scroll, and his left hand extended over it. This figure is supposed to represent Hermes, the founder of alchemy, from whom it has been denominated the Her- metic Art or Philosophy. He was an Egyptian legislator, priest, and philosopher; lived, as some think, in the year of the World 2076, and was so skilled in all profound arts and sciences, that he acquired the surname of Trismegistus, or “ thiice great.” He is said to be the author of seven books, and a tablet of Alchemy. There is apparently a ribband hanging down from the cap in the form of ihe figure 8, on which the following words are written ;—On one side—“ Secreto fonte sej^ultus, fermentum pariatt lapidem qui multa colorat.” On the reverse—“ lapis occultus.” The scroll seems to be attached to the upper part of the body of the figure by bands passing rouml, and it hangs clown in the form of an
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