LIBAVIUS, Andreas

[ Alchemiae Arcana ] Syntagmatis selectorum undiquaque et perspicue traditorum Alchymiae Arcanorum, tomus primus..., Frankfurt: Excudebat Nicolaus Hoffmannus, Impensis Petri Kopffii, ...

Frankfurt: Nicolaus Hoffmannus, Impensis Petri Kopffii 1613. First Collected Edition. First collected edition. 5 works bound in one volume. Folio. I: 6 leaves (including engraved title), 480 pp, 4 leaves; II: 6 leaves (including engraved title), 453 pp, 7 leaves. Separate unnumbered leaf with woodcut between pp 306-7; III: 6 leaves, 279 pp, 6 leaves (last blank); IV: 306 pp, 6 leaves; V: 28 pp. Numerous woodcuts. Bound in contemporary vellum with red, gold-stamped leather spine label 'Alchemiae Arcana'. This copy has been collated against the description of the Neville copy (see Neville II p. 67). It is identical with one exception. The first work, Syntagmatis selectorum, contains a binders error, with pages 137/8 and 139/40 each bound in twice, and pages 136/137 and 141/142 therefore lacking. We have provided the 2 missing leaves in facsimile. The other 4 works in the volume are complete. Paper is browned as usual, with some offsetting of woodcut illustrations throughout. Endpapers renewed. Part I: a few early penned marginal notations, mostly the first 6 pages. Occasional edge tears, with 2 extending into the text, but with no loss. Old marginal paper repairs to pages 203, 225, 253. Pages 257 and 260 have bleed-through of the woodcut illustrations to the verso of the page. Part II: Pages 21, 53, 197 and 267 are misnumbered, leaves L3 and L4 are bound out of order, and there is occasional spotting. Part III: Marginal paper repairs on pages 159, 163, 237, and 267. Page 207 is mis-numbered 208. Part IV: Various pages misnumbered, most notably in the page range 222 through 281, where the 'Z' has been substituted for the number '2' in many places. Part V: Page 23 is mis-numbered Z3. The misnumbering is normal for books of this period. Very Good. Vellum. [18216]


'In 1597 LIBAVIUS published Commentationum metallicarum, his commentary on the Alchemia (1597). The enlarged Alchymia (1606) was published with two commentaries (Commentationum alcymiae, pars prima et secunda). The present work comprises the final three commentaries on the Alchymia, his most important book, and they are a necessary adjunct to it. Here he expounds on medical and alchemical topics. The Syntagmatis selectorum is the second issue (first: 1611) of the first edition. Very Rare.' (Neville Collection, Vol 2, P. 67). DSB notes that although Libavius gathered much of his material from other sources, he can be considered one of the founders of chemical analysis. Ferguson notes he was among the first to describe chemical actions in plain language. Neville Collection, Vol 2 ('Very Rare'), p. 67; DSB Vol 8, 311; Ferguson II pp 33-34. This work is rare in the marketplace. HP Kraus's Catalog 62 (1953, #226) notes a complete copy of these 5 works as "very hard to find" and has one priced at $280, with Libavius' Alchymia (1606) priced in the same catalog at $85. COMPLETE TITLE AND CONTENTS: Syntagmatis selectorum undiquaque et perspicue traditorum Alchymiae Arcanorum, tomus primus..., Frankfurt: Excudebat Nicolaus Hoffmannus, Impensis Petri Kopffii, 1615 ; Bound with: Syntagmatis arcanorum chymicorum, ex optimis autoribus scriptis, impressis, experientiaque, artifice collectorum, tomus secundus..., Frankfurt: Nicolaus Hoffmannus, Impensis Petri Kopffii, 1613; Bound with: Appendix necessaria syntagmatis arcanorum chymicorum...In qua praeter arcanorum nonnullorum expositionem & illustrationem quorundam item Medicorum Hermeticorum, & mysticorum descriptionem..., Frankfurt: Nicolaus Hoffmannus, Impensis Petri Kopffii, 1615 ; Followed by: Examen philosophiae novae, quae veteri abrogandae opponitur..., Frankfurt: Impressum...Petri Kopffii, 1615; Followed by: Analysis confessionis Fraternitatis de Rosea Cruce..., Frankfurt: Impressum...Petri Kopffii, 1615. Images available upon request.

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