Adam Haslmayr: Der erste Verkunder der Manifeste der Rosenkreuzer.

The emergence of the Rosicrucian writings in Germany at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the history of the reception of those writings, is both fascinating and mysterious. With this book Carlos Gilly attempts to cast some light on the earliest reactions to Rosicrucian literature. He presents us with the Tyrolean Adam Haslmayr, one of the most important personalities in the early Rosicrucian movement.

The musician, schoolmaster, and Paracelsian physician Adam Haslmayr was the first to take up and disseminate the Rosicrucian program. Despite this, Haslmayr is one of the most disputed personalities in the historiography of the Rosicrucians, whose significance has been ignored and whose historical existence has been denied. Carlos Gilly now provides us with an elaborate historical reconstruction of the life and the activities of this Tyrolean scholar. His approach to Haslmayr is both precise and sympathetic. As a result, this biography is not only of historical value but is also a touching account of the personal tragedy of a seventeenth-century scholar persecuted for his scientific and religious convictions.

The basis of the monograph is Haslmayr's missing response to the Rosicrucian brotherhood (Antwort An die lobwurdige Bruderschafft der Theosophen vom RosenCreutz), discovered by Gilly in the Anna-Amalia-Bibliothek in Weimar. Haslmayr, who came into contact with the first Rosicrucian manifesto Fama Fraternitatis in manuscript form in 1610, published his enthusiastic response in 1612, two years before the official publication of Fama Fraternitatis. It is to Gilly's merit that he presents this "incunabula of Rosicrucian literature' as a facsimile-reproduction (chapter three). In addition to the publication of this rediscovered document Gilly offers a detailed bibliography of Haslmayr's printed writings. Of great significance is the facsimile-reproduction of the so-called Nuntius Olympicus by Joachim Morsius (chapter fifteen), a catalogue of 228 manuscripts from the "secret library" of an anonymous theosophical scholar. Gilly identifies the "old and famous theosophus and medicus" as Adam Haslmayr (chapter one), thus proving Haslmayr's historical existence.

Gilly's portrayal of Haslmayr's character and tragedy is based on the research of Tyrolean local historians (chapter two). Gilly describes the clash between Haslmayr and the Jesuits, who suspected the Paracelsian schoolmaster of harboring anti-Catholic sentiments. Haslmayr's difficulties with the Catholic authorities increased when Hippolyt Guarinoni, the influential and anti-Paracelsian physician of Hall in the Tyrol, denounced him as a heretic. Despite several attempts by Haslmayr to refute the accusations made against him, the argument escalated. Finally, in 1612, he was arrested and sent as a galley slave to Genoa, where he had to spend four and a half years. This occurred in the same year that Haslmayr's response to the Rosicrucian brotherhood was published. Gilly emphasizes that this brave espousal of the Rosicrucian program was one of the most important factors leading up to Haslmayr's condemnation.

Gilly fleshes out his biography with impressive details about Haslmayr as a person. He tells us about Haslmayr's contacts with contemporary scientists and his closeness to his friends (chapters five and six). He describes Haslmayr's great literary productivity during his captivity (chapters nine and ten) and his unshakable belief in political reforms based on a "theophrastic" and "cabalistic" interpretation of Christianity (chapter twelve). Thus Haslmayr comes across as a scholar whose doctrine and personal conviction were one and the same thing.

This book is essential reading for those with a particular interest in the origins of Rosicrucian literature, and for anyone concerned with the identification and evaluation of missing or neglected historical sources. For readers who are not well acquainted with the history of the Rosicrucians some more general information would be desirable. The lack of an index of topics is annoying. Nevertheless Gilly's book is a most welcome contribution to our understanding of the development of the Rosicrucian movement, and gives us an insight into an important chapter of German cultural history.

ANGELIKA BONKER-VALLON University of Kassel