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someone is holding a book open on a white surfacean old book with a black and white title on itan old book sitting on top of a white tablethe front cover of a book with a picture of a tree on itthe front cover of a book with a picture of a bird on itan old book with a black and white title on it
Premium Maître Paul PASTAUD

28 - Alchemy – LIBAVIUS (Andreas). D.
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Estimate €500 - €700
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Description
Alchemy – LIBAVIUS (Andreas). D.D. Commentationum Metallicarum [...] Book One. On the Nature of Metals and Related Minerals. With an appendix on the authors whose experience and eyewitness accounts confirm the truth of the art of transmutation. - [...] Second Book. On the Philosophers’ Mercury [...] - [...] Third Book. On Azoth and the Philosophers’ Permanent Water [...] - [...] Fourth Book. On the Philosopher’s Stone [...] - [...] The Art of Testing Minerals, Comprising Two Books [...] sl [Frankfurt], sn [Johann Sauer for Peter Kopf], sd [1597]. Small quarto, 392 pp. Old ivory vellum, handwritten title on the spine (binding detached). Missing the general title page. Paper heavily browned. A very rare work complementing Libavius’s *Alchemia*, published in the same year. Andreas Libavius (1555–1616), a German physician, chemist and scholar, was one of the leading figures in alchemy and chemistry during the late Renaissance, renowned throughout Europe. An advocate of chemical remedies inspired by Paracelsus, he nevertheless firmly opposed mysticism, occultism and the hermetic speculations of the Paracelsians. An advocate of a rational approach based on Aristotelian logic, he rejected theories of correspondences between the microcosm and the macrocosm, as well as magical or Kabbalistic interpretations of nature. His major work, *Alchymia* (1597), regarded as the first systematic treatise on chemistry, marks a crucial stage in the evolution of alchemy towards a more experimental discipline. Whilst criticising the esoteric excesses of alchemists, Libavius believed in the possibility of transmuting metals into gold and took an active interest in laboratory processes. In particular, the work describes the preparation of numerous chemical substances and helped to spread the practices of medical chemistry throughout scholarly Europe. As a transitional figure between traditional alchemy and modern chemistry, Libavius thus sought to preserve the experimental and technical aspects of alchemy whilst rejecting its mystical and theosophical dimensions. Bookplate bearing the stamp of Paul Chapuy, mining engineer.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 1 of 4 – Nos. 1 to 549
Auction location
Auction time 08/19/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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