The engraved emblem on the lower half of this title page was made after a 15th-century illuminated manuscript (now preserved in the British Library) and depicts an eagle, snake, and toad against a solar and lunar…

An alchemist in a calf-length robe holds up a book in one hand, reading with close attention as he stirs a substance in a small crucible. The tabletop beside him is littered with glassware and distillation vessels. In a…

A first edition work, with two volumes bound in one folio, by Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680), a German Jesuit scholar who published many extensive works on scientific, religious, and other subjects. Dubbed the “Master…

The alchemist's wife looks on in dismay as the alchemist himself makes a demonstration before the furnace. Behind the couple, an assistant stokes the flames with a large bellows. At left, the alchemist's children play…

The manuscript—"On the Preparation of the [Sophick] Mercury for the [Philosophers'] stone by means of the stellate regulus of Mars [i.e. iron] and Luna [i.e. silver] from the Manuscripts of the American Philosopher"—was…

Table of alchemical symbols from The last will and testament of Basil Valentine, monke of the Order of St. Bennet. These and other symbols are common throughout alchemical literature and were used to denote some…

Bound volume contains a compilation of earlier famous alchemical texts. Select title pages and plates are digitized including the plates illustrating The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine (Basilius Valentinus). Also…

Bound volume contains a collection of alchemical texts. Select title pages and plates are digitized including the plates illustrating The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine (Basilius Valentinus).

The alchemist's experiment has erupted in a sudden fire, with glass shattering in midair and smoke billowing upward. The alchemist is seated awkwardly in his chair with a startled expression on his face, having turned…

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…

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…

Seated in a disorderly and rustic workshop, an alchemist examines a flask while scratching his head, deep in thought. Scattered about the floor are books, vessels, and a dog which has curled up in a pile of straw. More…

A bearded alchemist sits in the midst of a bustling workshop, tending a small brazier of coals with a hand-bellows. Objects for metalworking- including an anvil, crucible, furnace and hammer- are joined by vessels for…