Welcome to The Virtual Absinthe Museum's De Absinthio Latin Translation Project.
Hiera Picra, vel de Absinthio analecta, Ad normam & forman Academiae Naturae curiosorum selecta
Written by Dr Johannes Michael Fehr, published in Leipzig by Jacob Trescher in 1667
First Edition. Octavo, 175 Pages, 2 full page engravings, one folding.
An extremely important find, unknown to all previous modern authorities. This recently discovered 17th century monograph on the medical and pharmaceutical uses of the wormwood plant has the potential to substantially increase our knowledge of the early history of absinthe, and the wormwood-based medicinal elixirs that preceded the commercial product introduced in the 1790's. Whilst absinthe is mentioned in almost all early herbals, this appears to be the only book exclusively devoted to the subject. The author was founder and president of the Academia Leopoldina.
If you've a reasonable knowledge of Latin, please consider joining our collaborative translation project for this book. Whether you can do a whole chapter, or only have the time to work on a few sentences, your help will be invaluable. We also need contributors with knowledge of 17th century scientific and alchemical symbols, which are heavily used throughout the book.
Join the volunteer online translation team, and have the satisfaction of making a ground-breaking contribution to our knowledge of this fascinating subject. The intention is to eventually publish a full English translation of the book, and each and every contributor will be individually acknowledged. Once you've signed up, you'll be able to not only view the work in progress, but upload your own translations, and exchange notes, ideas and information with other contributors.
To sign up as a volunteer translator, please email Oxygénée for your login ID.
Update: 19th November 2005 - Title, Table of Contents and Pages 4 to 5 and 30 to 41 uploaded.
Update: 20th November 2005 - Pages 42 to 51 uploaded.
Update: 29th November 2005 - Pages 1 to 3, 6 to 29 and 52 to 79 uploaded. Chapter pages created. Improved linking.