M.O.H.S. No. 6.

The Rosary of the Philosophers

Edited with an Introduction and Commentary by Adam McLean

[This book is now out of print]

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The Rosarium philosophorum is recognised as one of the most important texts from the middle period of European alchemy, being first published in 155O. It was extensively quoted in later alchemical literature, and the ideas it introduced influenced and inspired generations of later alchemists. It is perhaps best known through its famous series of 2O woodcut illustrations which act as a kind of structural format for the text. Many of these woodcuts have become well known as they have been used in recent years as illustrations in books on symbolism.
An eighteenth century manuscript translation of the Latin text into English was discovered by Adam McLean in a Scottish alchemical collection, and it is published here in its entirety, as the first ever version of the Rosarium in English. Adam McLean also provides a commentary focussed on the series of woodcuts, and outlines a particular interpretation which links this Rosarium series with ideas also current in the Tantric tradition and with Jung's ideas on alchemy and the energies in man's psyche.
For this first edition, the series of 2O woodcuts have been coloured by hand in accordance with those of the original 16th century book, early editions of which were so coloured. This book was issued with a set of twenty cards also bearing the Rosarium woodcut illustrations, so that the reader can further explore ramifications of the symbolism.
This is a unique and important alchemical item and will be of great value to collectors and scholars.
Limited edition of 250 copies. 130 pp. 20 illustrations (some copies were hand-coloured).