THE WORK OF THE GREEN LION by Jacques Le Tesson

Although not explicitly mentioned, the attentive reader can recognize, through the attributes described, the material with which, according to the author, the work must be undertaken. Le Tesson's text firmly refutes vulgar distillations and sublimations, and is equally opposed to the misuse of alembics and all the contrivances characteristic of an excessively artificial chemistry, closer to the modern laboratory than to the spirit of philosophical alchemy.

For the author, the entire operation is reduced to an almost disconcerting simplicity: a single vessel, a single material, and a single method. The entirety of the work unfolds within this austere framework. He also hints at where the so-called gold of the wise resides: a completely common substance, accessible to both rich and poor, yet unnoticed by most.

This translation, based on various manuscripts, has required many months—if not years—of compilation, collation, and patient work. Today it finally sees the light under the Rhoend label, made available to lovers of experimental alchemy

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