BY JOHANN OTTO VON HELLWIG original: "Joannis Ottonis Helbigii."

Thuringian,

A native of Thuringia, a region in central Germany.

Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine

INTRODUCTION

To the true and unheard-of Natural Philosophy.

original: "Physicam." In the 17th and 18th centuries, "physics" or "natural philosophy" referred to the general study of nature and the physical world, often including elements of what we now call biology, chemistry, and alchemy.

AN EPISTLE

Sent from the East Indies to Europe,

the Most Renowned Academy of the Holy Roman Empire

of the Curious Investigators of Nature;

original: "Academia Naturae Curiosorum." This refers to the Leopoldina, the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world, founded in 1652.

revealed.

original: "apertus," suggesting the contents have been "opened" or made accessible to the reader.

ornamental typographic vignette with scrollwork and floral elements

Know man physically, you who wish
to know true Natural Philosophy:
if you are able to know yourself,
you see it. This verse plays on the ancient "Know Thyself" maxim, suggesting that the human body and spirit are a microcosm that reflects the laws of the entire universe.

ornamental typographic vignette with scrollwork and floral elements

Printed on the Island of the Wise.

original: "In Insulâ Sapientium." This is a symbolic or allegorical place of publication, common in alchemical and esoteric texts to suggest the work is intended for "wise" initiates.

1760.