Alchemical Hands in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Marginalia, Scholarship & Reception

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Signature d8v

Folio 32v, Quire d

Folio d8v
British Library, London — C.60.o.12 HIGH
Folio d8v
Biblioteca degli Intronati, Siena — O.III.38 HIGH Unverified
Folio d8v
Biblioteca degli Intronati, Siena — O.III.38 HIGH Unverified

Alchemical Analysis

Panta Tokadi: Mercury as Universal Vessel

Facing the Panta Tokadi woodcut, Hand B translates the phrase as 'rerum omnium vas' -- vessel of all things -- rather than 'mother of all,' as Godwin translates it. This deliberate shift from biological generation to instrumental containment equates the Panta Tokadi figure directly with Mercury: not a passive mother but an active vessel through which the world spirit is channeled into matter. The annotation reflects d'Espagnet's concept of the 'magnetick principle' -- the force by which mercury draws the animating spirit of the sun into the vessels of physical matter.

Element: Mercury as universal vessel (vas)
Process: Spirit-matter mediation via mercury
Framework: d'Espagnet: magnetick principle; mercury as conduit
Russell, pp. 164-165
LLM-assisted synthesis from Russell

Alchemical Symbols Present

Symbol Metal Planet Gender Hand Conf.
Mercury Quicksilver (Hydrargyrum) Mercury hermaphroditic Hand B HIGH
Related: MercuryAlchemical AllegoryAlchemical Hands Essay

Annotations

EMENDATION (1)SYMBOL (2)
Hand B: Anonymous (possibly Royal Society circle) (Jean d'Espagnet (Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae)) Alchemist
Symbol
“Mother”
bol for the generation of life, draws associations with D’Espagnet’s concept of the ‘magnetick’ principle drawing the spirit of life into the ‘vessels’ of matter, through the medium of mercury. There are also signs of the second level of d’Espagnet’s schema discussed above, that of the expression of the ‘universal spirit’ in matter. Godwin translates Panta Tokadi as ‘the mother of all (G 73)’. The present annotator gives the phrase a slightly different inflection. On the facing folio ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 164 (Ch. 6)
Hand B: Anonymous (possibly Royal Society circle) (Jean d'Espagnet (Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae)) Alchemist
Symbol
“vessel”
’ of matter, through the medium of mercury. There are also signs of the second level of d’Espagnet’s schema discussed above, that of the expression of the ‘universal spirit’ in matter. Godwin translates Panta Tokadi as ‘the mother of all (G 73)’. The present annotator gives the phrase a slightly different inflection. On the facing folio (d8v) the phrase is translated as rerum omnium vas, followed by the abbreviation for ‘licet’, and then an alternate symbol for mercury. Detail, ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 164 (Ch. 6)
Hand Primary: Benedetto Giovio
Emendation
“ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia”
88 already been observed, the complete absence of alchemical interpretation distinguishes Como and Modena from the remainder of copies in this study. Instead, Benedetto may simply have highlighted this term as an instance of a discrepancy between the woodcut and the body text. As A&G observe, d8v gives the text incorrectly as ‘ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia’ de tutti cupido di niuno integramente rimane dil ardente appetito ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 99 (Ch. 4)
Hand Primary: Benedetto Giovio
Emendation
“ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia”
88 already been observed, the complete absence of alchemical interpretation distinguishes Como and Modena from the remainder of copies in this study. Instead, Benedetto may simply have highlighted this term as an instance of a discrepancy between the woodcut and the body text. As A&G observe, d8v gives the text incorrectly as ‘ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia’ de tutti cupido di niuno integramente rimane dil ardente appetito ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 99 (Ch. 4)
Hand B: Anonymous (possibly Royal Society circle) (Jean d'Espagnet (Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae)) Alchemist
Symbol
“Mother”
bol for the generation of life, draws associations with D’Espagnet’s concept of the ‘magnetick’ principle drawing the spirit of life into the ‘vessels’ of matter, through the medium of mercury. There are also signs of the second level of d’Espagnet’s schema discussed above, that of the expression of the ‘universal spirit’ in matter. Godwin translates Panta Tokadi as ‘the mother of all (G 73)’. The present annotator gives the phrase a slightly different inflection. On the facing folio ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 164 (Ch. 6)
Hand B: Anonymous (possibly Royal Society circle) (Jean d'Espagnet (Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae)) Alchemist
Symbol
“vessel”
’ of matter, through the medium of mercury. There are also signs of the second level of d’Espagnet’s schema discussed above, that of the expression of the ‘universal spirit’ in matter. Godwin translates Panta Tokadi as ‘the mother of all (G 73)’. The present annotator gives the phrase a slightly different inflection. On the facing folio (d8v) the phrase is translated as rerum omnium vas, followed by the abbreviation for ‘licet’, and then an alternate symbol for mercury. Detail, ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 164 (Ch. 6)
Hand Primary: Benedetto Giovio
Emendation
“ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia”
88 already been observed, the complete absence of alchemical interpretation distinguishes Como and Modena from the remainder of copies in this study. Instead, Benedetto may simply have highlighted this term as an instance of a discrepancy between the woodcut and the body text. As A&G observe, d8v gives the text incorrectly as ‘ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia’ de tutti cupido di niuno integramente rimane dil ardente appetito ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 99 (Ch. 4)
Hand Primary: Benedetto Giovio
Emendation
“ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia”
88 already been observed, the complete absence of alchemical interpretation distinguishes Como and Modena from the remainder of copies in this study. Instead, Benedetto may simply have highlighted this term as an instance of a discrepancy between the woodcut and the body text. As A&G observe, d8v gives the text incorrectly as ‘ΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΚΑΔΙ – a discrepancy corrected by Kerver in his edition. 62 11. i3r: ‘bulimia’ de tutti cupido di niuno integramente rimane dil ardente appetito ...
Russell, PhD Thesis, p. 99 (Ch. 4)