Ad venerandos, doctissimos et illuminatissimos viros, Dnn. frates s. roseae crucis coniunctissimos, theosophiae ac syncerioris philosophiae investigatores ac instauratores fidelissimos, amicos suos, summa semper observantia colendos, epistola I. [Greek] Eirenaiou I. A. divinae sophiae alumni.

UNRECORDED OUTSIDE GERMAN LIBRARIES

8vo (155 x 92mm.) 14,[2(blank)]p., device on title-page, decorative paper wrappers

Frankfurt: Johann Bringer, 1616

 

First edition of this very rare and early Rosicrucian tract known in only four copies, none of which are located outside Germany and the Netherlands.

This little tract, dated 3 December 1615, which the author claims, he has been prevented from writing over many years by pressure of business, is addressed to the Rosicrucian brotherhood, quotes frequently from Palingenius Zodiacus vitae, and makes reference to one or two contemporary works, the Chymische Hochzeit published by Zetzner in Strasbourg in 1616, and Julius Sperber (d. 1616) 'de summo huius & futurae vitae thesauro' (an adaptation perhaps of a German title). On p. 12 the author tells us that he is a from a wealthy family, a citizen of a very famous city located on the foremost river of Europe, aged 57, active in the state's business, a widower with several sons, one of whom, now fifteen is a fine linguist (here the tetragrammaton is printed in Hebrew). He further says that his name is taken from the designation of ' grace & peace', but, that if people guess at what it is, he beseeches them not to reveal it.

 

The work is commonly attributed to Friedrich Grick of Altdorf, but his pseudonym is Eirenaios Agnostos, not the name found in this pamphlet, and he is said to have attacked the Rosicrucians. This attribution seems unlikely given the warm tone towards them here adopted, unless it is meant ironically. If this is by Grick, then it is his earliest work, most of his titles dating from a few years later. In the catalogue Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, Amsterdam, 1995, no. 108, the authorship is given to Johannes Friedrich Jung of Strasbourg.

 VD17 23:286964G (Erfurt & Wolfenbüttel only) OCLC adds only Universities of Amsterdam, Marburg.

Stock Code: 220845