Basil Valentine is the Anglicised version of the name Basilius Valentinus, who was allegedly a 15th-century alchemist

Alchemy

Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...

. There are claims that he was the Canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 of the Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 Priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

 of Sankt Peter in Erfurt, Germany

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

 but according to John Maxson Stillman, who wrote on the history of chemistry, the records there is no evidence of such a name on the rolls in Germany or Rome and no mention of this name before 1600. During the 18th century it was suggested that the author of the works attributed to him was Johann Thölde.

Writings

Numerous publications on alchemy in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 and German were published under the name Basil Valentine. They have been translated into many European languages, including English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 and others.
Latin only:

• Currus Triumphalis Antimonii (The triumphal chariot of antimony
  Antimony
  Antimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
  
  )
• Duodecim Claves philosophicæ (The twelve philosophical keys)

In Latin and German

• Porta sophica
• The Medicine of Metals
• Of things natural and supernatural
• Of the first tincture, root and spirit of metals
• De microcosmo deque magno mundi mysterio, et medicina hominis, (Of the microcosm, of the great secrecy of the world, and the human medicine)
• Libri quattuor de particularibus septem planetarum, (Book four: Of the features of the seven planets)
• Experimenta chymica
• Practica
• Azoth
• Compendium veritatis philosophicum (German)
• Last will and testament

External links

• Of Natural and Supernatural Things by Basilius Valentinus
• Works by Basilius Valentinus at Project Gutenberg
  Project Gutenberg
  Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
  
  
• Transcription of Triumphal Chariot of Antimony
• Transcription of the supremacy of the seven planets (German)
• Transcription of Last will and testament
• Azoth