On Earthquakes — An English Study TranslationThe seeker’s collection
Symbolism & divination
On Earthquakes — An English Study Translation
Arcana · AI-assisted draft translation
Poem or verse · English
The manuscript collectionVatican
Vatican
Manuscripts
Alchemy, sacred symbols, and the search for the divine. Read related works in English inside Arcana, then explore the original manuscripts in the Vatican Library.
A guide to publicly cataloged holdings. The English reading editions below are available inside Arcana. Original manuscript links open scans or records on institutional websites, in the manuscripts’ original languages. Undisclosed or “secret” holdings are not represented.
Explore the original sources
External sources · Original languagesThe original manuscripts
10 records, from medieval alchemy to contemplative theology. English availability is listed on each record.
Alchemy
The Emerald Tablet & alchemical writings
An alchemical anthology opening with the Emerald Tablet and Hortulanus’s commentary (folios 1r–5r). A meeting point of Hermetic tradition and medieval attempts to understand the transformation of matter.
Related English edition availableThe Emerald Tablet
The Hermetic Museum, Volume II includes an English rendering of the Emerald Tablet. Related to the Latin text in Pal.lat.1328.
Read in EnglishEdition details & previewChristian mysticism
Mystical Theology & the Dionysian writings
A manuscript of writings associated with Pseudo-Dionysius, including On the Divine Names and The Mystical Theology with scholia. These works explore divine names, contemplation, and the limits of what words can express.
Related English edition availableDivine names & mystical theology
C. E. Rolt’s English translation of two works represented in Vat.gr.504.
Read in EnglishEdition details & previewKabbalah
Zohar: mystical readings of the Torah
Zohar selections centered on Leviticus, with material connected to other books of the Torah. The manuscript offers a historical witness to the symbolic interpretation and layered spiritual readings of the Zohar tradition.
Full English translation not yet available
This 357-folio compilation rearranges Zohar passages and includes additional writings. A reliable full transcription of this manuscript has not been located; a standard Zohar edition would not translate every part of this copy.
Kabbalah
Kabbalistic commentary on the Pentateuch
A commentary drawing on the Zohar, Sefer ha-Bahir, and earlier authorities. The catalog suggests that it may bring together several early works, preserving a conversation across generations of Kabbalistic interpretation.
Full English translation not yet available
This 241-folio volume contains an anonymous, composite Torah commentary. Its exact text and sources need to be established from a reliable transcription before a complete translation can be prepared.
Kabbalah
The Divine Name & the ten sefirot
Two manuscripts bound together, containing commentary on the seventy-two-letter Divine Name and the ten sefirot. A focused introduction to two important themes in medieval Jewish mystical writing.
Full English translation not yet available
This 171-folio composite includes several commentaries, with differences from printed editions. The Divine Name commentary is at ff. 1r–5r and the sefirot commentary at ff. 5v–10r. Reliable transcriptions of these texts are needed for complete translations.
Hermetic tradition
Hermetic & Orphic writings on earthquakes
A sixteenth-century section of this composite volume contains a short work on earthquakes (folios 260r–261v), attributed to Hermes Trismegistus or Orpheus. The catalog treats the Hermetic attribution as uncertain.
New English translation · DraftEarthquake omens — draft translation
New AI-assisted English translation of the 66-line poem in Kern’s 1922 Greek edition. Related to the earthquake text in Vat.gr.1904.pt.2, but not checked against that exact manuscript. Specialist review is still needed.
Read in EnglishEdition details & previewAstrology & cosmology
Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos
A Greek witness to Ptolemy’s influential work on astrology. Its historical importance lies in the effort to connect celestial patterns with life on Earth; the text is presented here as a source for the history of ideas.
Related English edition availablePtolemy’s Tetrabiblos
J. M. Ashmand’s English translation of the work preserved in Vat.gr.208.
Read in EnglishEdition details & previewSpiritual poetry
Dante’s Divine Comedy
An illuminated manuscript of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Dante’s journey through the afterlife joins moral inquiry, spiritual transformation, and the imagination of medieval Christianity.
Related English edition availableDante’s Purgatorio
Longfellow’s English translation, Volume II: Purgatorio. This part of the Divine Comedy also appears in Urb.lat.365.
Read in EnglishEdition details & previewPrayer & contemplation
Augustine’s Confessions & theological writings
The Confessions appears at folios 2ra–64va in this collection of Augustinian and related writings. Its account of memory, longing, conversion, and prayer has shaped centuries of contemplative reading.
Related English edition availableAugustine’s Confessions
This anthology includes Pusey’s English translation of the Confessions, the work found in Pal.lat.194, alongside other readings.
Read in EnglishEdition details & previewSacred scripture
Codex Vaticanus
One of the earliest surviving major manuscripts of the Greek Bible. Its ancient pages, with later repairs and additions, offer a starting point for exploring the transmission of sacred scripture.
Historical English translation · 1863Vaticanus-related New Testament
Heinfetter’s historical English translation (1863), based on a printed Vatican manuscript text. New Testament only; not a translation of the full codex. Scan-derived text contains OCR errors.
Read in EnglishEdition details & preview