We are pleased to announce the first event in the New York History of Science Lecture Series for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Hiro Hirai – Into the Forger’s Library: The Genesis of a Pseudo-Paracelsian Treatise in Publication History

Date: Wednesday, September 18
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: The Center for Science and Society, Fayerweather Hall, Room 513, Columbia University
Speaker: Hiro Hirai, Columbia University

Abstract: A strange treatise, On the Nature of Things (De natura rerum), was one of the most popular writings ascribed to the German physician Paracelsus (ca. 1493–1541). It was first presented to readers when the movement of forgery production reached its climax in 1572, through the multiple editions of Paracelsus’s genuine treatise Archidoxis. In this talk, Hirai will place the genesis of De natura rerum in the context of publication history. He will first reconstruct a “library” by surveying the works ascribed to Paracelsus which could serve as instruments for the “author” of De natura rerum. Then he will analyze the evolution of this forgery production by focusing on the divergent editions of Archidoxis from 1569 to 1572.

Upcoming Lectures

A full schedule of the lectures for the 2019-2020 year is included below and can also be viewed on the Center for Science and Society website.