A Threefold Journey Throught the Book of Lambspring

Hermeticum published in 1625 by Lucas Jennis in Frankfurt, especially for its series of

fifteen emblematic plates. It seems that this little book was first published, under the title

De Lapide PhilosophicoTriga Chemicum (Prague 1599) compiled by the Frenchman

Nicolas Barnaud prominent in the alchemical circles around Rudolf II. However, this

tract and its emblemmatic drawings circulated in manuscript during the last two decades

of the 16th century, as is attested by a number of copies dated to this period which still

survive in libraries and special collections today. [Of these we might mention Ms 16752

in the National Museum in Nurnberg, and the manuscript copy in the University of

Leiden.]

The Book of Lambspring is a short work with an introductory section in verse and an

emblem showing a threefold furnace. Following the tradition of emblem books of the

period its series of fifteen emblems each bears a motto or title with a verse on the facing

page. The Book of Lambspring is a work of spiritual alchemy, has few references to

physical alchemical processes, and it seems unlikely that it could ever have provided any

clues that might help someone engaged upon physical experimentation. Instead, it is a

clear, powerful and extremely useful statement of the inner work of the spiritual

alchemist. Its verses point to the soul and spirit involved in the alchemical transformation

and its fifteen emblems are evocative symbols of these inner processes.