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Riddle of the Rosicrucians

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Manly Hall's short book on the history on the authenticity of the Rosicrucians is a well documented and researched book. Originally published in 1949, Hall examines the original texts of the Rosicrucians, such as the The Fame and Confessions of the Fraternity of the R. C. Hall questions the author, the reality of Rosicrucian Order and what the intentions behind it was. Like many, by now, have understood that it is very probable that a Rosicrucian order did not exist in the 1600's at the time of the publication. But because of the mystery that surrounded it, along with its popularity of the time, many people claimed to have belonged to such an order. Yet, no real author was stepping out to claim authenticity or validity of the Rosicrucians, so, many charlatans would step out of the woodworks and claim they belonged to the order in to gain notice or money. Yet, this stil does not dispell the problem created by the original Fame and Confessions. Further problems arose when the Chemical Marriage of Father Christian Rosencreutz. Hall is not altogether convinced that these two books are related, nor that R. C. refers to Chritian Rosencreutz (or that he was a real person). What Hall does deduce through all of these problems is that it may be very likely that Johann Valentin Andreae is the most likely author of the original Fame. Furthermore, that Rosicrucianism is not a real order to be initiated into, but rather a state of being or mind that one attains. One book that Hall highly reccomends in conjunction with reading the Fame and Confessions is Lord Bacon's Novum Organum as he believes he points out the author of this mysterious book.