Τρίτη 1 Μαΐου 2012

The Comte de St. Germain by Isabel Cooper-Oakley


An engraving of the Count of St Germain by Nicolas Thomas made in 1783

The original 'International Man of Mystery,' the Count St. Germain, was an 18th century European aristocrat of unknown origin. He had no visible means of support, but no lack of resources, and moved in high social circles. He was a renowned conversationalist and a skilled musician. 
He dropped hints that he was centuries old and could grow diamonds. He never ate in public, was ambidextrous, and as far as anyone could tell, totally celibate. He served as a backchannel diplomat between England and France, and may have played some role in Freemasonry. He hobnobbed with Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Rousseau, Mesmer, and Casanova. 
He dabbled in materials and textile technology as well as alchemy, as did many intellectuals of the time (e.g., Newton). These are established historical facts, documented by the extensive collection of contemporary accounts in this book. He is a subject of interest for students of the esoteric.

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BOOK PREFACE

I have thought it better, in preparing the first part of the monograph on the Life of the Comte de St. Germain, to reprint the articles which were published in 1897 in the “Theosophical Review” with some additional matter, rather than rewrite an entirely new book, since to many persons those magazine articles are not easily accessible. Perhaps some critics may think that there is too much quoted matter; this I have done on purpose in order that the opinions of those persons who were in actual contact with the Comte de St. Germain may be considered, rather than my own. In the eighteenth century every one of any education kept a diary, and in these diaries we get a living picture of the period; this is very decidedly the case in the Memoirs of Madame
d’Adhémar.  
It has been suggested, by one writer in the Nineteenth Century, that these Memoirs are apocryphal. I do not think so, as the present Comtesse d’Adhémar informed me that they have documents about the Comte de St. Germain in their possession.
In the second part of this study there is much additional political material; unfortunately, in the English Record Office, all the ciphers which were between the written lines were carefully erased, before the papers were consigned to me. Evidently there was some mystery about this political work which is even now not to be made public.
I take this opportunity of thanking the many friends, and specially Mon. G.
Mallet, who have helped me with the arduous work of copying and translating. Without their valuable help this study could not have been printed.
I am now collecting more material which will form the second part of this monograph when complete.

ISABEL COOPER-OAKLEY LONDON, 1911


Links :
http://www.alchemylab.com/count_saint_germain.htm

Buy :
http://www.tower.com/comte-de-st-germain-isabel-cooper-oakley-hardcover/wapi/113091944

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