ALDE
133
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ROQUETAILLADE (Jean de). *The Virtue and Nature of the Quint…
See original version (French)
133
-
ROQUETAILLADE (Jean de). *The Virtue and Nature of the Quint…
See original version (French)
Estimate €500 - €600
Voluntary lot
Description
ROQUETAILLADE (Jean de). *The Virtue and Nature of the Quintessence of All Things*. Lyon, Jean de Tournes, 1549. In-8, soft vellum (original binding). A rare and sought-after first edition of Antoine Du Moulin’s French translation.
Jean de Roquetaillade, known in Latin as Johannes de Rupescissa, a Friar Minor of the monastery of Aurillac in the 14th century, theologian, polemicist and alchemist, introduced the concept of quintessence into alchemy in this treatise on medical alchemy, composed in Latin in 1351 or 1352 and known by the title *De consideratione quintæ essentiæ*, in which he does not seek to refine metals in order to transmute them into gold, but rather to produce a substance he calls the ‘quinte essence’ (the ‘fifth essence’), capable of maintaining the body in good health and curing diseases. He subjects the art of alchemy to a ‘prophetic, eschatological twist’, defining a new purpose for it: ‘the quest for eternal health, the quest for salvation and the renewal of the world, against an apocalyptic backdrop’, writes Antoine Calvet in *Alchemy in the Middle Ages*.
Jean de Roquetaillade also prophesied on the fate of sovereigns and even the Pope, leading Innocent IV to have him imprisoned in 1357.
Printer’s marks and on the verso of the last text leaf. The copy is complete with the final two blank folios. A few old underlinings in ink.
Endpapers replaced.
Gültlingen, IX, 157, no. 152 – Cartier, no. 143 – Brunet, IV, 1462 – Adams, R946 – Caillet, no. 9580 (1581 edition).
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
Antique books – Alchemy & the occult sciences
Auction location
Auction time
11/04/2026 at 2:00 PM
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