Alchemy

Handwritten manuscript containing notes for making aqua fortis, (or nitric acid), and refining silver. Includes a basic sketch of the apparatus used in the procedure. Written by John Conduitt (1688-1737), Sir Isaac…

Written in Isaac Newton's hand, Roth Mallor’s Work consists of extracts from the work of Erasmus Rothmaler, a German alchemist about whom essentially nothing is known. Text found on verso is two unrelated chemical…

Geared towards young readers, The playbook of metals is an informative and entertaining volume on all aspects of the history, mining, smelting, and metallurgy of the metals then known. The author, John Henry Pepper…

The Testamentum Theorica is the earliest work in the Pseudo-Lullian Alchemical corpus, a large collection of as many as 143 different texts that circulated as the work of Raymond Lull (Ramon Llull or Raimundus Lullus;…

This manuscript is an important miscellany of practical and theoretical alchemical texts with a full-page drawing of alchemical instruments reflecting the activities of a fifteenth-century alchemist. The manuscript was…

In the center of a large room, a surgeon in a red cap and apron kneels to apply a leech to the foot of his bearded patient. Scenes of bloodletting and leechcraft are common in such images of doctors' surgeries. The…

This manuscript is a diverse and well-organized recipe collection with more than 520 different recipes on topics ranging from alchemy and medicine to solutions for simple household problems such as fleas. A direct…

The Liber de secretis naturae seu de quinta essentia is the central work in the Pseudo-Lullian Alchemical corpus, a large collection of as many as 143 different texts that circulated as the work of Raymond Lull (Ramon…

A photographic reproduction of the replica of an alchemist's laboratory located in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany. Various vessels for distillation can be seen along with two furnaces.

This plate is found…

A layman's introduction to topics in chemistry including a history of chemistry along with alchemy and the philosopher's stone; elements including organic, invisible, metals, acids, alkalies, and water; chemical changes…

The alchemist pauses in his work to glance over one shoulder at the distillation experiments in progress beside him. A multi-level furnace supports an alembic and receiver. A small text, perhaps a recipe collection or…

A studious, bearded alchemist in a red cap studies a book intently, one hand tracing the lines of text. Beside him, a brick furnace sits topped with glassware. A skull and hourglass rest on his table, reminding the…

An apothecary in a fur-trimmed robe reads from a large book as his assistant looks on. Behind them, a dentist pulls a seated patient's tooth. A large celestial globe, distillation apparatus, and apothecary's jars…

A man dressed in peasant garb holds a gold scale in right hand and reaches with left for red substance in open paper packet. At left through window are building roofs; the light illuminates a dark, cluttered workshop…

An alchemist wearing a green robe uses a pair of bellows to control the heat of the fire beneath his crucible. Other vessels sit on the furnace at his side, and an animal skull hangs from a peg. A hammer and tongs…

This small painting on metal is a copy of Gerrit Dou's (also known as Gerrit Douw or Dow) [artist unknown] popular dentist scene in Dresden. Through the illusionistic frame of a large window, we see a dentist in a red…

In this small copy in the style of David Teniers II (artist unknown), an elderly, bearded alchemist closely reads an open book with an expression of absorbed contemplation. He is seated at his desk beside a skull and…

A bearded, elderly alchemist in a fur-trimmed coat leans close over a tabletop experiment. The equipment on his lab bench includes an adjustable clamp stand and an alcohol burner, contemporary to the 1800s. Small vials…

In this copy after Gerrit Dou's (also known as Gerrit Douw or Dow) popular "The School Master" composition (artist unknown), the old man at the window niche sharpens his pen while his pupils are busy at work in the…

In this small copy of a larger painting by David Teniers II (artist unknown), a bearded physician examines a flask of urine as his patient, a middle-aged woman, looks on thoughtfully. Before him is an open book, likely…