This "Rosicrucian" woodcut portrait of the Swiss-German physician and alchemist Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus—better known as Paracelsus—appeared as the frontispiece to a posthumous 1567 edition of his works titled Ph…

A collection of alchemical texts by Christophorus (or sometimes in this manuscript “Christofalus”) Parisiensis. Despite his name, Christophorus Parisiensis (Christopher of Paris) was likely Italian, possibly from…

This manuscript includes two texts by notable Catalan philosopher, theologian, and mystic of the High Middle Ages, Ramon Llull (Ramon Llull or Raimundus Lullus; 1232-1316), Ars brevis, and Ars abbreviata praedicandi.
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A collection of four alchemical works ascribed to Ramon Llull (c. 1232-1316), of which three are printed here for the first time: Apertorium, Magia Naturalis, and Tertia Distinctio. The fourth treatise, De secretis…

Work from the "pseudo-Geber" corpus, a group of writings falsely attributed to the Arabic alchemist, Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (died c. 806–816, Latinized as “Geber"). These writings are actually from 13th or…

Found in its original plain binding of parchment, this work was most likely compiled by a practitioner of alchemy and medicine. Containing a handwritten copy of Liber lucis by John of Rupescissa (Johannes de Rupescissa)…

A first edition, Italian work considered to be the earliest printed book on metallurgy published in Europe. The work was written in Venice by Vannoccio Biringuccio (c. 1480 – c. 1539), an Italian metallurgist of Siena,…

An early work on the preparation of aqua vitae or the “water of life” (alcohol), by the process of distillation. This treatise describes the distillation process and necessary instrumentation in detail. Aqua vitae was…

Copy of an early text from the Pseudo-Lullian alchemical corpus, assembled before the sixteenth century from two independent manuscripts. This manuscript is noteworthy for its illustrations, tables, figures, and…

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 scene from the two-sided folio from Hartmann Schedel's The Book of Chronicles, or in German Das Buch der Chroniken (1493), depicting God creating Adam from clay. This clay is interpreted alchemically as the "prima…

A two-sided folio from Hartmann Schedel's The Book of Chronicles, or in German Das Buch der Chroniken (1493). On the recto is a text block on top and an image below depicting God creating Adam from clay. This clay is…

This is one of only six known complete manuscripts of a 14th-century alchemical treatise; all the extant manuscripts date from the 15th century or later. This copy includes lengthy contemporary glosses, possibly…

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…

These three alchemical miniatures are believed to be from Das Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit (The Book of the Holy Trinity), based on the iconography depicted and their relation to the text. Das Buch der heiligen…

This alchemical miniature is believed to be from Das Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit (The Book of the Holy Trinity), based on the iconography depicted and its relation to the text. Das Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit…

This alchemical miniature is believed to be from Das Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit (The Book of the Holy Trinity), based on the iconography depicted and its relation to the text. Das Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit…

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 alchemical miniature is believed to be from Das Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit (The Book of the Holy Trinity), based on the iconography depicted and its relation to the text. Das Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit…

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…

This print, after a painting by Adriaen van Ostade, shows a humble peasant-alchemist at work before a furnace. Working with a pair of hand bellows—the source of the alchemists' mocking nickname, "puffer,"— the alchemist…

In this variation of a painting by Gerard Dou, a scholarly alchemist, wearing a fur-lined robe, gazes with directness at the viewer as he composes his note. Holding a small quill pen with an open text before him, the…

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…

This etching, after a print by Balthasar Moncornet, in turn after a drawing by Rembrandt, claims to display a portrait of the French manuscript seller Nicolas Flamel (1330-1418). Flamel, along with his wife Perenelle,…