|
] Pseudo-Geber ("false Geber") is the name assigned by modern scholars to an anonymous European alchemist born in the 13th century (sometimes identified with Paul of Taranto〔William R. Newman. ''New Light on the Identity of Geber", Sudhoffs Archiv 69 (1985): 79-90〕), who wrote books on alchemy and metallurgy, in Latin, under the pen name of "Geber". "Geber" is the shortened and Latinised form of the name Jābir ibn Hayyān, a ninth century Islamic alchemist. In Europe for many centuries from the 14th century onward it was assumed that "Geber" was identical with Jabir ibn Hayyan and that the books of "Geber" had been translated from Arabic. Arabic alchemy was held in high esteem by 13th century European alchemists. Pseudo-Geber adopted the name of his illustrious Arabic predecessor to attach more stature to his own work. The practice of adopting the name of an illustrious predecessor is called pseudepigraphy and it was not uncommon in the medieval era. Similarly, a wide variety of medieval writings were distributed with the illustrious Aristotle as the stated author, which were not written by the original authentic Aristotle. In the domain of alchemy and metallurgy in late medieval Europe, Pseudo-Geber's output was highly influential, arguably more influential than any other author. ==The Pseudo-Geber Corpus and the Geber Problem== The following set of books is called the "Pseudo-Geber Corpus" (or the "Latin Geber Corpus"). The books were published by printing-press several times in the first half of the 16th century.〔''Alchemy and Early Modern Chemistry'', Allen G. Debus, Jeremy Mills Publishing, 2004. ISBN 978-0-9546484-1-1.〕 They were in circulation in manuscript for roughly 200 years beforehand. The stated author is "Geber" or "Geber Arabis" (Latin for "Geber the Arab"), and it is stated in some copies that the translator is "Rodogerus Hispalensis" (Latin for "Rodger of Seville"). *''Summa perfectionis magisterii'' ("The Height of the Perfection of Mastery"). *''Liber fornacum'' ("Book of Furnaces"), *''De investigatione perfectionis'' ("On the Investigation of Perfection"), and *''De inventione veritatis'' ("On the Discovery of Truth"). Also: *''Testamentum Geberi'' *''Alchemia Geberi'' Being the clearest expression of alchemical theory and laboratory directions available until then — in a field where mysticism, secrecy, and obscurity were the usual rule — Pseudo-Geber's books were widely read and influential among European alchemists. The ''Summa Perfectionis'' in particular was one of the most widely read alchemy books in western Europe in the late medieval period.〔 The next three books on the list above are shorter, and are, to a substantial degree, condensations of the material in the ''Summa Perfectionis''. The last two books listed, ''Testamentum Geberi'' and ''Alchemia Geberi'', are "absolutely spurious, being of a later date (the other four )", as Marcellin Berthelot put it,〔 and they are usually not included as part of the Pseudo-Geber corpus. Their author is not the same as the others, but it is not certain that the first four have the same author either. As mentioned, the Pseudo-Geber corpus was assumed to be translated from Arabic throughout the medieval and renaissance periods. This assumption was reversed in the late 19th century by the studies of Kopp, Hoefer, Berthelot, and Lippmann. The corpus is clearly influenced by medieval Arabic writers (especially by Al-Razi, and not particularly by the eponymous Jabir). The estimated date for the first four books is 1310, and they could not date from much before that because no reference to the ''Summa Perfectionis'' is found anywhere in the world before or during the 13th century. For example, there is no mention in the 13th century writings of Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon.〔(''History of Analytical Chemistry'' ), by Ferenc Szabadváry (1960).〕 No Arabic copies exist.〔(''Makers of Chemistry'' ), by Eric John Holmyard (1931).〕 Their contents reflect the state of knowledge in Europe at about 1300. As one chemistry historian writes: "An important point of evidence is the absence in the Arabic texts of the new and original facts recorded in the Latin particularly... nitric acid, aqua regia, oil of vitriol, silver nitrate...."〔Chapter VI: "The Pseudo-Geber" in (''A History of Chemistry from the Earliest Times'' (2nd ed., 1920) ), by J.C. Brown.〕 Aqua regia is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. Its first documented occurrence in world history is in Pseudo-Geber.〔Vladimir Karpenko and John A. Norris (2001), (Vitriol in the history of Chemistry ).〕 Knowledge of nitric acid itself does not appear in any writings before the 13th century, and arguably appears first in Pseudo-Geber. Silver nitrate probably appears in Albertus Magnus in the 13th century, and is not found earlier. The chemistry historian Eric John Holmyard in his 1957 book ''Alchemy'' writes:〔Eric John Holmyard, ''Alchemy'', 1957, (page 134 )〕 Another chemistry historian writes that the question of Geber's identity, whether he is the original Jābir or a "pseudo-Geber" adopting his name, is "still in dispute", but then proceeds himself to call Geber "a Latin author".〔P. Crosland, Maurice, ''Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry'', Courier Dover Publications, 2004 1962, ISBN 0-486-43802-3, ISBN 978-0-486-43802-3, p. 15 and p. 36.〕 The chemistry historians who think the question is still in dispute are few and far between.〔One historian who argues that the Pseudo-Geber Corpus was originally written in Arabic is Ahmad Y. Al-Hassan and his argument is presented at (''Geber Problem'' @ history-science-technology.com ).〕 However, the identity of this Latin author remains a mystery. He may have lived in Italy or Spain, or both. Some books in the Geber corpus may have been written by authors that post-date the author of the ''Summa Perfectionis''. As mentioned already, the contents of most of the other books in the corpus are mostly recapitulations of the ''Summa Perfectionis''.〔 The one entitled ''De Inventione Veritatis'', though mostly a recapitulation of ''Summa Perfectionis'', has the earliest known recipe for the preparation of nitric acid."〔 The 1991 book by William R. Newman, ''The Summa perfectionis of Pseudo-Geber: A critical edition, translation, and study'', has 250 pages of introduction, followed by 400 pages of footnoted Latin text and 150 pages of footnoted English translation. The introduction argues that the author of the ''Summa perfectionis'' was Paul of Taranto.〔( ''The Summa perfectionis of Pseudo-Geber: A critical edition, translation, and study'' ), by William R. Newman (1991)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pseudo-Geber」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|