Into the Forger's Library: The Genesis of De natura rerum in Publication History

摘要

One of the most popular writings ascribed to Paracelsus, De natura rerum appeared in 1572. That was when the movement of forgery production reached its climax, in parallel with the multiple editions of his genuine work Archidoxis. This article aims to place the genesis of De natura rerum in the context of publication history. It will first reconstruct a library" by surveying the works ascribed to Paracelsus which could serve as instruments for the "author/reworker/editor" of De natura rerum. Then it will examine the evolution of this forgery production by focusing on the divergent editions of Archidoxis from 1569 to 1572.