Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, better known as Paracelsus (1493/94– 1541), is widely considered a founding father of chemistry as an autonomous discipline. It is generally accepted that he despised the traditional alchemical objective of chrysopœia, or gold-making, and insisted rather on the relevance of alchemy to prepare new remedies in the laboratory. A theologian, physician, alchemist, and natural philosopher, he developed several conceptual systems, where alchemy, magic, and theology were intimately woven together. One of the best-known treatises published under his name is the popular De natura rerum, or On the Nature of Things. A distinctive feature of this treatise is its presentation of alchemy as a powerful example of the triumph of art over nature. One of its crowning jewels is the infamous alchemical recipe for a homunculus. The authenticity of this treatise, however, has been questioned ever since Karl Sudhoff expressed serious, albeit mitigated, doubts upon it in 1928. Scholars have wondered whether De natura rerum was an authentic treatise, an outright forgery, or a counterfeit based on authentic drafts of Paracelsus. In the course of recent study, many important discoveries have been made. For this reason, Hiro Hirai, Didier Kahn, and Isabelle Pantin organised a workshop in December 2017 at the École Normale Supérieure de Paris under the title “Homunculus, Palingenesis, Transmutation, and Questions about Life and Death around Paracelsus” (Homunculus, palingénésie, transmutation, questions sur la vie et la mort: autour de Paracelse). The aim of the gathering was to collect, share, and discuss interrelated new findings on these topics. This initiative has resulted in the present special issue, the aim of which is to present major advances in these areas, especially to Ambix readers. The synergy among the five essays presented here will help serve this purpose. Urs Leo Gantenbein’s article “Real or Fake? New Light on the Paracelsian De natura rerum” begins by providing context for a recently discovered manuscript of De

中文翻译：

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帕拉塞尔苏斯、伪造和嬗变：介绍

Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim，更广为人知的名字是 Paracelsus (1493/94–1541)，被广泛认为是化学作为一门独立学科的奠基人。人们普遍认为，他鄙视传统的炼金术目标，即炼金术，而是坚持炼金术与在实验室中制备新疗法的相关性。作为一名神学家、医生、炼金术士和自然哲学家，他开发了几个概念系统，其中炼金术、魔法和神学紧密地交织在一起。以他的名义出版的最著名的论文之一是流行的 De natura rerum，即《论事物的本质》。这本论文的一个显着特点是它把炼金术作为艺术战胜自然的有力例子。它的一大亮点是臭名昭著的人造人炼金术配方。然而，自从 Karl Sudhoff 于 1928 年对它表达了严重但缓和的怀疑以来，该论文的真实性一直受到质疑。 学者们想知道 De natura rerum 是真实的论文、彻头彻尾的赝品还是基于真实草稿的赝品帕拉塞尔苏斯。在最近的研究过程中，取得了许多重要的发现。出于这个原因，Hiro Hirai、Didier Kahn 和 Isabelle Pantin 于 2017 年 12 月在巴黎高等师范学院组织了一个研讨会，主题是“帕拉塞尔苏斯周围的 Homunculus、Palingenesis、嬗变和关于生与死的问题”（Homunculus，palingénésie，嬗变，问题sur la vie et la mort：autour de Paracelse）。聚会的目的是收集、分享和讨论关于这些主题的相互关联的新发现。这一举措导致了目前的特刊，其目的是介绍这些领域的重大进展，特别是向 Ambix 读者。这里介绍的五篇文章之间的协同作用将有助于实现这一目的。Urs Leo Gantenbein 的文章“真的还是假的？对西沙塞尔斯自然灾害的新认识”首先为最近发现的 De natura 手稿提供背景信息。