Lamspring

Lamspring's Process

Publisher Marketing: Lamspring's Process, written in Germany in the 15th century or earlier, was known to many of the ancient alchemists including Basil Valentine and Paracelsus. The original included fifteen enigmatic illustrations, included as grayscale images. The color illustrations in this edition are from the Latin translation of Nicolaus Majus. That manuscript from 1607 is titled Lambsprinck's De lapide philosophico. Many different sets of these illustrations have been created over the years. In 1804, Sigismond Bacstrom translated the text from German, and that translation was used for this edition. He also added an extensive commentary, drawing upon commentaries from other alchemists as well as his own insight. Dr. Sigismund Bacstrom (circa 1750-1805), born in Scandinavia, was a physician, alchemist, and Rosicrucian. In 1794 he was initiated into the Societas Rosae Crucis by Comte Louis de Chazal, an occultist and alchemist. Bacstrom met Chazal on the island of Mauritius during Bacstrom's travels as a ship's surgeon. This meeting led to Bacstrom's interest in alchemy. Eventually he settled in London where he practiced alchemy and other ancient arts. He avidly translated many alchemical works into English at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century.