First published in Latin in 1621, Lithotheorikos, Sive Nihil, Aliquid, Omnia (The Stone Theorist: Nothing, Something, Everything) is Bishop John Thornborough's enigmatic fusion of alchemy, Christian theology, and natural philosophy. Now translated into English for the first time, it introduces readers to the ancient wisdom of Hermetic philosophy, woven through Thornborough's distinctive blend of spiritual allegory, Christian dialectic, and alchemical symbolism.
Across its elaborate title and emblematic structure, Thornborough guides the reader through a cosmological meditation in which nothing, something, and all things (nihil, aliquid, omnia) reveal the divine order underpinning material transformation. At once a devotional treatise and an alchemical manual, Lithotheorikos reflects the intellectual world of a seventeenth-century Anglican bishop deeply immersed in esoteric thought and connected with figures such as Simon Forman and Robert Fludd.
Standing at the crossroads of religion, mysticism, and proto-scientific inquiry, Lithotheorikos remains one of the most intriguing works of its age.
With an introduction by M.R. Osborne.