Preface

at

E^nt is to sag,

A tretice in englisch breuely drawe out of |?e book of quintis
eMencijs in latyn, yat hermys ]>e prophete and
kyng of Egipt, after flood of Noe,
fadir of philosophris, hadde by
reuelaciou?^ of an aungil
of god to him
sende.

EDITED FROM THE SLOANE MS. 73, ABOUT 1460-70 A.D.

BY

FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL, M. A.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED FOR THE EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY,
BY N. TRUBNER & CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLXVI.

16

OXFORD :

T. COMBB, M.A., B. PICKA.HD HALL, AND H. LATHAM, M.A.,

PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.

odd account of the origin of this Treatise — in its first
lines — caught my eye as I was turning over the leaves of the
Sloane Manuscript which contains it. I resolved to print it as
a specimen of the curious fancies our forefathers believed in
(as I suppose) in Natural Science^ to go alongside of the equally
curious notions they put faith in in matters religious. And this
I determined on with no idea of scoffing, or pride in modern
wisdom, for I believe that as great fallacies now prevail in both
the gi-eat branches of knowledge and feeling mentioned, as ever
were held by man. Because once held by other men, and spe-
cially by older Englishmen, these fancies and notions have, or
should have, an interest for all of us ; and in this belief, one of
them is presented here.

The loss of our sweet, bright, only child, and other distress,
have prevented my getting up any cram on the subject of
Quintessence to form a regular Preface. The (translated ?) ori-
ginal of the text is attributed to Hermes — Trismegistus, " or the
thrice great Intei-preter," so called as " having three parts of
the Philosophy of the whole world^^"*^ — to whom were credited
more works than he wrote. The tract appears to be a great
fuss about Spirits of Wine ; how to make it, and get more or

* The Mirror of Alchirny, coniposetl by the thrice-fanious and learned Frj er,
Jlogcr Buchon, 1597.

vi

less tipsy on it, and what wonders it will work, from making
old men young, and dying men well, to killing lice.

The reading of the proof with the MS. was done by Mr. Ed-
mund Brock, the Society's most careful and able helper. To
Mr. Cockayne I am indebted for the identification of some
names of plants, &c. j and to Mr. Gill of University College,
London, for some Notes on the Chemistry of the treati.se,
made at the request of my friend Mr. Moreshwar Atmaram.
The Sloane MS. I judge to be about, but after, 1460 A.D.f The
later copy (Harleian MS. 853, fol. 66) seems late 16th century
or early /17th,t and has been only collated for a few passages
which require elucidation. The full stops and pause marks of
the MS. and text require to be disregarded occasionally in
reading.

Egham, Uth May, 1866.

f Mr. E. A. Bond of the British Museum has kindly looked at the MSS., and
puts the Sloane at 1460-70 A.D., and the Harleian at about 1600.

THE BOOK OF QUINTE ESSENCE

OR THE FIFTH BEING ;

THAT IS TO SAT,

MAN'S HEAVEN.

[Sloane MS. 73, fol. 10. Brit. Mus.]