Doctor Robert Fludd (Robertus de Fluctibus) : the English Rosicrucian : life and writings / by J. B. Craven.

  • James Brown Craven
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Doctor Robert Fludd (Robertus de Fluctibus) : the English Rosicrucian : life and writings / by J. B. Craven. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    Anno I ChrIstVs MVndo VIta | [1G17] Oppen- lieiinii typis Hieronymi Galleri, | Iinponsis loh. Theod. de Bry. | 4°. 7f in. A-Q‘‘; 126 pp. +(1) leaf blank. Falsely attributed to Fludd: — Religio | Exculpata | antore | Alitophilo Relin'ionis flnctibus dudnm im- inerso; tan- | dem per Dei gratiani & indefessam enatandi | Operain emerso. | Anno M.DC.LXXXiv. 4°. 7f in. A-Minni., pp. 459. 1 Title, pref. 2 pp., contents 4 pp. 2 blank leaves at beg., 1 at end. 2 ornaments, one at title and one after Finis. APPENDIX TI. FLUDD AND HUTCHINSONIANISM. The writer of the article, ‘‘ Robert Fludd,” in the Dictionary of National Biography, states that the '' common ideas of this school, that the biblical text contains a store- house of hints for modern science, has lost interest, its potency expiring with the Hutchinsonians.” The writer of the article, “John Hutchinson” [1674-1737], in the same work, remarks that Hutchinson “ found a number of symbolical meanings in the Bible, and in nature and thought; for example, that the union of fire, light, and air, was analogous to the Trinity. He maintained that Hebrew, when read without points, would confirm his teaching. . . . The love of scriptural symbolism seems to have been the peculiarity which chiefly recommended him to his followers.” Hutchinson’s works form twelve octavo volumes, flrst issued in 1748, and supplemented in 1765. He had neither the ability nor the learning of Fludd, and it is scarcely correct to say that his opinions were of the same nature. I do not think that, among the endless refer- ences to learned works, • there will be found one single reference to Fludd in all the volumes of Hutchinson. Probably he was ignorant of his existence. Both writers, however, agreed as to the mystic and symbolic value of the Hebrew language. In a MS. in my possession, composed by one of the last of the Hutchinsonian school, the follow- ing axioms are laid down :—