Hermetic Artificial Productions of Life: The Example of the Lunatic Herb

The aim of this essay is to argue that the version in manuscript 1 – held in the Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Library of Chemical History, Philadelphia, PA – of the short text The Essay on lunaria (Capitulum De borissa), attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, is not a fragment. The manuscript does not contain an incomplete version of the text, as some scholars assume, but a shorter one. Another short version with many variations is found in manuscript Bethlehem, Lehigh University, Codex 10. A collation of the two versions provides an opportunity to discuss the alchemical- magical content of this text about the artificial production of life. A compara - tive edition of the two versions is provided.