Alchemical and astrological symbols used by John Ward in V.a.287 and V.a.291

V.a.287 and V.a.291 are diaries kept by John Ward, vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon from 1662 to 1681 and a medical physician. V.a.287 was used at several times: Oxford in September 1658 (fol. 1r-9v) and Stratford from February to October 1665 (fol. 10r-67v), spring and summer of 1666 (fol. 68r-ca. 100), and from 1668 to 1671 (ca. fol. 100-150v). V.a.291 was kept at Oxford and London from January 1660/61 to 14 February 1661/62. A note on back inside cover states that the book was finished at his "chambers in the Bell in Aldersgate street." For more information on Ward, see John Ward's Latin and A Semi-Diplomatic Transcription of Selections from the John Ward Diaries.

This list was compiled by Dr. Robert Tallaksen, a reader and transcriber at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Alchemical and astrological symbols

The following symbols appear on leaf one recto and verso of V.a.287 and leaf 164 recto and verso of V.a.291. Those symbols that appear only in V.a.291 are so indicated in the "Notes" column.

Name Image (TK) Symbol Hex codepoint HTML English equivalent Notes
Acetum Acetum287.PNG Acetum291.PNG 🜊 U+1F70A 🜊 vinegar
Acetum distillatum AcetumDist287.PNG AcetumDist291.PNG 🜋 U+1F70B 🜋 distilled vinegar
Aer Aer287.PNG Aer291.PNG 🜁 U+1F701 🜁 air
Alembicus Alembicus287.PNG Alembicus291.PNG 🝪 U+1F76A 🝪 alembic
Alumen Alumen287.PNG Alumen291.PNG none none alum JW's symbol differs from the Schröder's symbol for alumen: 🝅
Amphora/ Amphoræ Amphora287.PNG Amphora291.PNG U+2652 ♒ Aquarius (astrological)
Amalgama Amalgama287.PNG Amalgama291.PNG 🝛 U+1F75B 🝛 amalgam, usu. mixture of gold or silver w/mercury
Ana Ana287.PNG Ana291.PNG a; an none none of each very common
Antimonium Antimony287.PNG Antimony291.PNG U+2641 ♁ antimony; also used for earth
Aqua Image 🜄 U+1F704 🜄 water
Aqua fortis Image 🜅 U+1F705 🜅 nitric acid
Aqua regia (or stygia) Image 🜆 U+1F706 🜆 mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids
Arcitenens Image U+2560 ♐ Sagittarius (astrological)
Arena Image none none sand JW's symbol; not yet documented elsewhere
Argentum Image U+263E ☾ silver; also used for last quarter moon
Argentum vivum Image U+263F ☿ mercury (liquid); quicksilver
Aries Image U+2648 ♈ Ram (astrological) 291 only
Arsenicum Image 🜺 U+1F73A 🜺 arsenic
Auripigmentum Image 🜽 U+1F73D 🜽 auripigment; AKA orpiment, arsenic trisulfide
Aurum Image U+2609 ☉ gold; also used for the Sun
Balneum Image B none none a bath
Balneum Mariæ Image 🝫 U+1F76B 🝫 bain-marie
Balneum vaporis Image 🝬 U+1F76C 🝬 steam bath, bath of vapors
Calx Image 🝌 U+1F74C 🝌 chalk, calcium oxide
Calx viva Image 🝁 U+1F741 🝁 quicklime
Cancer Image U+264B ♋ crab (Cancer: astrological); may also be seen rotated 90°, resembling "69" as in oculi cancri
Caper Image U+2651 ♑ goat; Capricorn (astrological) 291 only
Caput mortuum Image 🝎 U+1F74E 🝎 residuum after distillation; sometimes symbol resembles a skull
Chalybs Image U+2642 ♂ steel, accirding to JW; this symbol usually used for iron; see below for Ward's symbol for iron; in 287, Ward uses the symbol for ashes
Cinabaris Image 🜭 U+1F72D 🜭 cinnabar (HgS)
Cineres Image 🝗 U+1F757 🝗 ashes
Cornu Cervi Image C.C. none none hart's horn; NB: not the plant
Crucibulum Image 🜊 U+F70A 🜊 crucible; JW uses the same symbol as for vinegar.
Cuprum Image U+2640 &9792; copper
Distillare Image 🝠 U+1F760 🝠 distill JW uses two different symbols for this. 287: [image tk] 291: [image tk]
Dies Image U+260C ☌ day
Drachma Image ʒ U+0292 ʒ drachm/dram 291; also button in Dromio transcription box
fferrum Image U+2642 ♂ iron JW uses this symbol in 287. in 291, he uses [image tk]
Gemini Image U+264A ♊ Gemini (astrological) 291 only
Hora Image 🝮 U+1F76E 🝮 hour JW's symbol in 287: [image tk] is slightly different; in 291 it more resembles a figure 8
Ignis Image 🜂 U+1F702 🜂 fire
Iupiter Image U+2643 ♃ Jupiter (planet) 291 only; also closely resembles the Rx (℞) JW uses for prescription compounding
Leo Image U+264C ♌ Lion (astrological) 291 only
Libra Image U+264E ♎ Scales (astrological) 291 only
libra Image U+2114 ℔ pound(s) 291 only
Luna Image U+263D ☽ moon; technically first quarter moon; also used for silver 291 only
Mars Image U+2642 ♂ Mars 291 only; JW writes this with the arrow portion vertical
Mercurius sublimatus Image 🜐 U+1F710 🜐 mercury sublimate
Mercurius præcipitatus Image ☿🝟 U+263F + U+1F75F ☿ + 🝟 mercury precipitate Not in Unicode as a unified symbol. Combined symbols for mercury (U+263F/☿) and precipitate (U+1F75F/🝟)
Mensis Image 🝱 U+1F771 🝱 month
Nitrum Image 🜕 U+1F715 🜕 niter
Oleum Image 🝆 U+1F746 🝆 oil
Oppositio Image U+260D ☍ opposition
Pisces Image U+2653 ♓ Fishes (astrological) 291 only
Plumbum Image U+2644 ♄ lead; also planet Saturn
Pulvis Image 🝋 U+1F74B 🝋 powder in 287, JW connects the two crossbars at the ends so that there is a rectangle over the upright
Præcipitare Image 🝟 U+1F75F 🝟 precipitate
Quadratus Image U+25A1 □ square; also symbol for salt
Quintessentia or Quinta Essentia Image 🜀 U+1F700 🜀 quintessence JW writes this with colons, i.e., Q: E:
Retorta Image 🝭 U+1F76D 🝭 retort
Sal ammoniac(um) Image 🜹 U+1F739 HTML 🜹 sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride)
Sal commune Image 🜔 U+1F714 🜔 common salt
Sal gemmæ Image 🜘 U+1F718 🜘 rock salt; literally, "salt gems"
Sal nitrum Image 🜕 U+1F715 🜕 potassium nitrate, saltpeter JW uses same symbol for niter; in 287 he omits the bottom of the circle
Saturnus Image U+2644 ♄ Saturn; same symbol for lead
Scorpius Image U+264F ♏ Scorpion (astrological) 291 only
Sol Image U+2609 ☉ Sun; also one of the symbols for gold
Spiritus Image 🝇 U+1F747 🝇 spirit In 291, JW omits the "SP," making this the same symbol as the one he uses for sublimate
Spiritus vini Image 🜈 U+1F708 🜈 spirit of wine, aqua vitae, alcohol In 291, JW replaces the "S" with a dot
Stannum Image U+2643 ♃ tin; also used for planet Jupiter
Stratum super stratum Image 🝜 U+1F75C 🝜 layer upon layer
Sublimatum or sublimare Image 🝞 U+1F75E 🝞 sublimation In 291 JW omits the lower horizontal line
Sulphur Image 🜍 U+1F70D 🜍 sulfur, brimstone
Talcum Image X none none talc
Tartar(um) Image 🜿 U+1F73F 🜿 tartar; may be preceded by "crem.," = cremor tartaris, cream of tartar
Taurus Image U+2649 ♉ Bull (astrological) 291 only
Terra Image 🜃 U+1F703 🜃 earth In 287, JW does not extend the horizontal line beyond the triangle
Trigonus Image U+25B3 ╙ triangle, triangular
Venus Image U+2640 ♀ Venus (planet); also used for copper
Vinum Image V none none wine
Virgo Image U+264D ♍ Virgo (astrological)
Viridi æris Image 🜨 U+1F728 🜨 verdigris, copper acetate In the Unicode character, the limbs of the cross do not touch the circle
Vitriolum Image 🜖 U+1F716 🜖 vitriol In both 287 and 291 JW has the horizontal line extending beyond the circle
Vrina Image 🝕 U+1F755 🝕 urine