Title within woodcut border & numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 8 p.l., 168 leaves. Small 4to, cont. limp vellum. [Venice: Comin da Trino for C. T. de’ Navò], 1558.

Third edition of the first systematic book on mining and metallurgy; according to Cyril Stanley Smith, the second edition of 1550 and our edition are far superior to the first edition of 1540 for in that earlier edition “the type is worn, poorly aligned, and arranged in a solid mass, unrelieved by paragraphing.”–Smith & Gnudi, The Pirotechnia (1943), pp. xix-xx.

Biringuccio (1480-1539?), after travelling throughout Italy and Germany, inspecting metallurgical operations and running an iron mine... More

6 p.l., 276 pp. 12mo, cont. vellum over boards. Paris: C. du Mesnil & T. Jolly, 1654.

First edition of “the first independent bibliography of chemistry and alchemy, including manuscript material, based on the author’s very considerable collection of 4,000 books and manuscripts. Borel, ‘medecin ordinaire du Roy,’ made some original contributions to medicine and also wrote on optics, the microscope, botany, and antiquarian subjects.”–Grolier Club, Bibliography, 59.

A fine copy of a book which has become scarce. Contemporary signature “Ex libris Francisci Sauvin Med.” at head of title. François Sauvin was a 17th-century physician who wrote or edited a number of medical... More

Woodcut printer's device on title & 16 woodcuts in the text. 250, [10] pp., one leaf of errata. 8vo, late 16th cent. richly blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, orig. clasps & catches. Antwerp: C. Plantin, 1567.

[bound with]:

PICODELLA MIRANDOLA, Giovanni Francesco. Libri III. De Auro...Accessit Bernhardi Comitis antiqui Trevirensis... Per Chemeias :[in Greek] Opus Historicum & dogmaticum, ex Gallico in Latinum simpliciter versum, & nunc primùm in lucem editum. Woodcut printer's device on title. 13, [3] (blank), 223 pp. 8vo. OberUrsel: C. Sutor, 1598. More

334 (i.e. 336), [64] pp. 8vo, cont. richly blind-stamped vellum over boards, central panel on upper cover stamped in gold (now oxidized) with the arms of the city of Kuttenberg (today’s Kutna Hora) & the name of “Georgius [Polenta] a Sudetis,” dated 1569, ties gone. Basel: P. Perna, 1568.

Second edition and a very lovely copy in an attractive contemporary binding with an interesting provenance; Sudhoff considered this to be one of the most important of Paracelsus’ writings. The book is divided into two parts. The first — the “Philosophiae et Medicinae Universae Compendium” — is a work on medical chemistry. Paracelsus is important... More