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BIBLIOTHECA CHEMICA

THIS CATALOGUE OF CHEMICAL BOOKS HAS BEEN PRINTED FOR

PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION BY HIS FAMILY, IN ACCORDANCE

WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE LATEJAMES YOUNG,Esq.

Fho : n iJraTUTF iy Aiman i S ms

Bibliotbeca Cbemica:A CATALOGUE OF THE ALCHEMICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL BOOKS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE JAMES YOUNG OF KELLY ANDDURRIS, ESQ.,LL.D.,F.R.S.,

F.R.S.E.

BY

JOHN FERGUSONM.A., LL.D.,

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL MILITARY ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, ST. HETEKSUURG MEMBER OF THE GERMAN SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND THE NATURAL SCIENCES FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE SOClfiTE FRANCAISE d'aRCHEOLOGIE REGIUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

'

VOLUME

I

JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONSPUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY

1906

zPi

25(5^

SEP 2 4^''.,,>,..,

1971

AOV.^V

GLASGOW

:

PRINTED At the university PRES^

BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE

AND

CO. LTD.

tbe flDemorif of

Ikto

wbom

alone(t

ia

owtnapossess

wbatever merit

ma?

tbis Catalogue is

beMcateb

bie

53f

'To

the

man who

aspires to know,

no man who has been

the meanest student of knowledge should be unknown.'

Zanoni, Book

III.,

Chapter

iv.

IntroductionDr.

James Young/ under whosetolearn

directions

theIn

presenthis

collection

of books was made, was a native of Glasgow.set

youth he wasCollege

a

trade, but

having

entered

Anderson's

whenthere,first

Thomas Graham,

afterwards

Master of the Mint, was professor

and was commencing those researches which have put him

in the

rank of experimental chemists, he studied chemistry under Graham, and

by a succession of events cameindustry in Scotland.participationin

to be the originator of the paraffin oil

In after years,

when he hadof his

retired

from active

business, not

unmindfula

own

early drawbacks

and

difficulties,

he

established

Chair

of

technical

chemistrythe

in

Anderson's

College,

which

has

been

incorporated

with

recently

created institution called the Glasgow andCollege.his

Westin

of Scotland Technicalto thelibrary,

Furthermore, he erected a statue

Glasgowpresent

memorywhich

of

teacher,

Graham, and he gatheredwas begunplain

the

he

bequeathed to the Chair which he had endowed.

Thecentury,

collection

by himself about the middle ofhe took muchinterestit

last

and

it

is

that

in

the history

of chemistry and

must have discussed the study of

with his friend,

the

Angus Smith of Manchester, who also was a collector and was desirous of seeing more attention devoted to it. Dr. Smith'slate

Dr.

idea of reprinting epoch-making books and papers was long after carried

out in part by the Alembic Club in Edinburgh, and on a more generalplan by Ostwald, in his series of chemical and physicalclassics.

^Dr. Young was born on July 13, 181 1, and died May 13, 1883. For details about his life and career there may be consulted the article by P. T. Hartog in the Dictionary of National Biography, 1900, Ixiii, p. 376, with the references there given, the obituary notices of him in the Proceedings of the Societies with which he was connected, and a brief estimate of him bymyself, with a portrait, inii.

Memoirs and Portraits of One Hundred Glasgow Men, Glasgow, 1886,

p.

341, No.

100.

BIBUOTHECA CHEMICAOf moreGermanyfor

living

importance, however,

is

the

recent

movement,

in

especially,

which has led

to

the

formation

of the

Society

the

History of Medicine and the Natural

Sciences, to

the estab-

lishment of courses of lectures on that subject and to the recognition

of

it

as an important

branch

of knowledge by both the InternationalCongresses.

Historical

andhas

the

Medicaltakenin

Astheare

yet

no

action

in

this

direction

been

Britain

;

history

and

evolution

of

chemical,

natural,

and

physical

science

ignored

by the

British

Association, of

medicine

by the Medical

Association,

and

theStill

Antithere

quarianis

Societies

have their attention

otherwise occupied.is

not wanting proof that even in this country there

interest in thisit.^

section of history

and that there are some who pursuethis

Perhaps

if

the few

who do

could combine theircultivation

efforts,

a stimulus might be

given to a s)^stematic

of the

subject.

Dr.

Young'shis

pre-

science was exhibited in various ways, but in none

was

breadth of

view and foresight more conspicuously displayed than when, long beforethis

movement had begun, he was makingscience,

provision

for

the

study

and teaching of the history of thepractically

which he had cultivated

and

technically with such success.

The founder

of a great

industry, which haslife,

added so much to the comfort, and even luxury ofin

immersed as he was

the mechanical and chemical details of the

process, engrossed in business transactions, distracted

by the worries ofof his invention,

competition, and

by attempts

to minimize the merit

was hardly the personthe

whom

one wouldold,

have expected to undertake

formationthe

of a

library

of

neglected,

and out of;

the

books ondidthis

practically

extinct

topic

of alchemyas

yet

Dr.

way Youngto

becausethe

he

perceived

that

alchemy

happensa

be

oneofit

ofis

phases

which

chemistry

formerly

presented,

survey

indispensable for completing the history of the whole science.

Hethe

did

not

collect

for

one

of

the

bibliophile'sfor

reasons

:

becausereason:

books

were

rare

and

curious,

but

the

student's

because they were needed for research, and because no collection of

themChair.

was

accessible

to

the

student

here

in

connection

with

his

England the only original contribution which has been made in recent years to the any part of physical science is the edition of Gilbert's book on the Magnet, with the accompanying notes and various biographical papers and essays by Professor Sylvanus Thompson. This is as fine a piece of work as could be desired.^

In

history of

INTRODUCTIONThecollection thusbut, as a

and volumes,

made by him consists of about 300 pamphlets good many volumes contain several tracts boundi

together, the actual

number

of separate items

may

reach 1350 or 1400.printedlibrary.

This number, however, includes only the works and does not represent the whole contents of thebesides,

separately

Thereprinted

are,

writings

which

do not seem ever to have beenIf thesewill

by

themselves, but only in the collected editions which form a characteristicfeature of alchemical literature.distinct

be

included

the

number ofconsiderable

and independent

articles

be increased by a

amount.One, indeed, couldlibrary

have wishednot

that

the

lines

upon which the

was begun, hadattention

beengiven

departedto

from quite so much, and

that thetained.

originallyis

English

works had been maincollection

That

desire

intensified

by knowing that when the

was making, these books couldhavefear

still

be purchased, whereas now theyit

disappeared

altogether

;

and

may

be

said,

without

much

of contradiction, that they will

hardly be seen again.

An oddsome ofit

specimenas

may makeare

its

appearance from time to time, but the booksto

a

class

no

longer

bein

had.

It

is

fortunate that

these

exceedingly rare treatises;

English were secured before

was

too late

they are so

much

gain to the library.the greatidea

Considering what influencefor the

of supplying

material

study of the

history of chemistry exercised

upon Dr. Young,doneafor his

one

can

imaginehe

how

much

more

he

wouldso

havefull

library

had

lived

longer.

Having made

gathering

of

the alchemical writings, he might have got together even more of the

works by the chemistshas been done.in the origins

in

the latter half of the eighteenth century thaninvaluable to those interested

They would have beenit

of modern chemistry.

This period has not been forgotten

by any means, butof those beforeItit.

has not been so elaborately worked out as some

may

afford a

the chief authors in

more exact view of the extent of the library, if the different periods, whose works have been here

brought together, be enumerated.

Whenor

one considers that speculationsproperties of matter have beenthird

and operationsin

relative to the chemical

vogue certainly from the second

century of our era, and

that the alchemists and chemists were diligent

composers of books,

it

BIBLIOTHECA CHEMICAwill rare,

be

easily understood

that

the

literature

is

extensive, as well as

and much beyond amassin

the

power of anyone,Young'sis,

however

eager

and

persistent, to

his life-time.

In fact even the largest librariescollectionis

exhibit

deficiencies.

Nowas

Dr.it

noteworthy

in

being

so

comprehensiveof the

and

containing

so

many

of

the

writings especially

Germanhewill

alchemists

of the seventeenth andstill

eighteenth

centuries.

Thethat

student will not find everything, andget

less every edition

for

nowhere

butearlier

he

will

have

ample materialscience.

for acquiring a

knowledge of the

phases of the

Theperiods1.

history of chemistry

presentsit

various

aspects

for

treatment,in

but, for our:

present

purpose,

may be

arranged

broadly

three

The

period of belief in theearliest

transmutationdateof

the

alchemical periodis

which

begins at

which

there

a

record

and

stretches

down

to the

commencement of

the nineteenth century, with

sporadic survival to the present time.

Along with the notion of transmutation there existed the preparation

and employment

of various

kinds

of

bodies

in

pharmacy andarts.

medicine, and practical applications of substances in the technical

These were empirical, but frommentalstill

both

a considerable body

of experi-

facts

of important

practical

use was

brought together, though

without anything of a guiding principle.2.

The

iatro-chemical period, which began in the sixteenth century,

and died out about the close of the seventeenth century.3.

The

period of scientific chemistry, which began in the seventeenthbeforeor

century shortlypresent moment.

about

Boyle's

time,

and

continues

to the

These aims of chemistry,plantedalchemical

therefore, for a time ran parallel with each

other and materially influencedideasinto

each other. medicineimportantdoctrines

The

iatro-chemists trans-

andofof

pharmacy,Boyle's

and

on

thehis

other handcriticism

one of the mostthe

labours

wastheory

of

then

current

elements, and

of

composition.It

belongs to history to trace and explain the processes by whichatlast

each period was modified, absorbed, andtoallot

replaced by another,for

to

the

various

labourers

their

due

praise

what they

INTRODUCTIONaccomplished, andto

record

the"^

acquisitions

of

fact

which

remain

established to this day.

As

it

is

solely from the literature

which has descended toduring these periodsallis

us, that

insight into the state of the

science

obtained,aspects,

an ideal

historical

library should

representall

periods andI

all

and should contain the works ofsuch a library exists.Itis

authors.

am

not aware that

only an approximation to this ideal that

any

collection

can

offer.

We may

now

see

what the present one

embraces.I.

As

the alchemical books in the library are

much

the most abundant,

they

may

be taken

first,

and roughly

in

chronological order.

Thein theselves,

earliest portion is that of the Greeks,

beginning with Democritus

second or third century A.D.

Apart from the Greek MSS. themcertain

which are attainable only

in

European

libraries,

the

first

access to their contents

was through the

translation of a portion of1

them

by

Pizimenti.

There

is

a copy of the rare reprint of

7

1

7 in the library,

so that the student can thus start from the very oldest records.

Next

comes

the

Arabic

epoch

represented

by the works of Geber, Kalid,

Rhazes, Avicenna.

This

is

followed by the productions ascribed to Morienus, Hortulanus,v.

Arisleus, Artephius, Ferrarius, Petrus

Zalento,

Haimo and

the pseudo-

Merlin.

Most of these personages are more orin

less

shadowy, but writings

their

names are extant, and

it

rests

with the historian to appraise

their claims to acceptance as genyine.

The

authors of the thirteenth century areto

better

known than

the

preceding, but there are doubts as

some of the alchemical

writingssaid to

which pass

for their composition.

Such as they are these are

be by Albertus Magnus,

Thomas Aquinas, Michael

Scotus, Christophorus

of Paris, Roger Bacon, Arnaldus de Villa

Nova, Richardus Anglicus,

Guido de Montanor.

The next centuryXXII., Jean de Meun,

furnishes a

list

of notable people

:

Pope John

Raymundwriters

Lully, Cremer of Westminster, Pietro

Bono, Antonio de Abbatia, Odomar, Rupescissa, Ortolanus, Flamel.

As time goes on moreJoannesof Tetzen,Isaac

on the subject appear.

In the

first

half of the fifteenth century there are the reputed Basilius Valentinus,

Hollandus, Lasnioro, Lambspringk, and,

in

zii

BIBLIOTHECA CHEMICAsecondhalf,

the

Bernard of Trevisan, Ficinus, Trithemius, Poyselius,

Vincent Koffsky, George Ripley, Thomas Norton, Trissmosinus.In the early part of the sixteenth century one meets with Augurello,

Picus de

Mirandula, Pantheus, Lacinius, Bracesco, Grewer, Paracelsus,

Agricola, Denis Zachaire, Petrus Arlensis, Robertus Vallensis, Alexander

von Suchten, Phaedro, Wenceslaus Lavinius.In

the latter part flourished

Thurneysser, Nazari, Carerius, Quad-

rammi da Gubbio, Blaise de Vigen^re, Penotus, Barnaud, Balbian, Edward Kelley, Dr. Dee, Francis Antony, Robert Fludd, Beuther,Sebald Schwertzer, Wittestein, and the two Khunraths,

The

seventeenth

century

is

perhaps

the

most

prolific

of

all

in

alchemical writers,plished, in

and

richest inin

narratives of

transmutations accomart,

books written

explanation and defence of theit.

as well

as in those

by others who doubted

It

opens with the adventures

of Alexander Seton the Cosmopolite, followed by the romantic episode of the Rosicrucian Society, and

amongLibavius,

the

crowd of alchemists andCrollius,

chemists

may

be

mentioned

Figulus,

Pontanus,Billich,

Grasshof, Schaubert,

Rhenanus, Gerhard, Michael Maier,

Birelli,

Johannes de Padua, Angelo Sala, Guibertus, d'Espagnet,Potier,

Nuysement,

Castaigne, L'Agneau, Palmarius, Drebbel,;

Hoghelande,be found

Samuelthe

Northon

though

some of these

are

also

to

among

iatro-chemists.

The secondMiiller,

quarter of the century includes Sendivogius, Ambrosius

Grosschedel ab Aicha, Batsdorf, Rist, Johannes Agricola, Kessler,Benedictus, Conringius,

LiberiusZwelffer,

Peter

Faber,

Philaletha,

Starkey,

Zwinger.^^^

Between 1650 and 1675Snyder,Glauber,

the

names of Richthausen, MonteBlauenstein,

Harprecht,

Kircher,

Clauder,

Otto

Tachenius, Becher, Lowenheim, Drechssler, Albineus, Morhof, Borrichius,Helvetius,

Kerkring,

Vreeswyk,

Johnson,Borri.

Borel,

Germain,

Atremont,

Du

Clos,

de Comitibus, Ashmole,

In the last quarter are

W.

v.

Schroder, Seyler, Krohnemann, Cardilucius,Helbig, Orschall, Weidenfeld,

Balduinus, Kunckel, Wedel,

v.

Grummet,

Kirchmayer, Hannemann, Boyle, Dickinson, Mundanus, Colson, Headrich,Tollius,

Salmon, Gualdo, Lancilotti.eighteenth century also furnishes an abundance of names, buta marked change in the character of the writings.

Thethereis

There

may

INTRODUCTIONbe enumerated the followingDippel,:

xitt

Botticher, Caetano, Delisle, Paykul, Stahl,

Ettner

von

Eiteritz,Miiller,

Barchusen,

Manget,

Soldner,

Kellner,

Axtelmayer, Faustius,

Horlacher, S. Richter, Klettenberg, Roth-

Scholtz, Chymiphilus, Siebenstern,Keil,Creiling,J.

Hensing.

There were alsoDufresnoy,

Plusius,

Fictuld,

Richebourg,

Lenglet

Tharsander,

Jugel,

F.

Meyer, Wenzel, Schroder; and from 1775 to 1800, Semler,Indagine,

Wiegleb, ab

Adamah

Booz,

Herverdi, Giildenfalk,

Kortum,

Henckel, von Murr.Allit

these and

many moreseventeenth

less

prominent arelittle

in

the library, and

may

be said with some confidence thatin

of importance relatingis

to

alchemy,so,

the

century especially,

wanting.

Not

only

but certain books which are very scarce indeed, and are not

alluded to in

some of therunning

fullest

lists,

are here present.this

TheKopp's

bestlast

commentary on

division

of the library

is

work, Die Alchemie, and one might almost imagine that inif

writing the bibliographical appendix he had had access,collection, to

not to this

one similarly furnished.

But here again there are items

which have escaped Kopp's observation.

The onlyliterature,

other books to be considered are the collected editions ofI

alchemical tracts, which, as

have already

said, are characteristic

of the

even from the earliest times.

treatises

by

different

writers,

The Greek MSS. always contain ranging from four to as many as fiftythe tracts of Democritus, Synesius,together.

three

;

and

in Fizimenti's translation,

Pelagius, Stephanus

and Psellus are printed and when they were

Later

MSS.

in

Latin, of which various specimenssimilarly

have passed throughprinted,in

my

hands, are

made

up,

what they containedthe Vatican

was simply reproduced.

So

it

must have been

MS.

of

Geber

;

for,

not only his works, but tracts by Kalid, Avicenna, and others

are included in Silber's edition, printed atseveral of those

Rome

before

1520, and

in

which followed.

But from the sixteenth to the end of

the eighteenth century the practice of printing collected editions became

common, andthe libraryLacinius'

quite a

number appeared.

The most comprehensive

in;

may

be mentioned:

De

Alcheniia

Volumen, Petreius, 1541

1546; De Alchimia Opuscula, Doctrina, 1561 Erdffnete Geheimnisse 1550; Gratarolo's Verce AlchemicB des Steins der Weisen; Vellus Aureum; Ars Aurifera; Theatrum ChemiPretiosa

Margarita Novella,

;

cum; Manget's

Bibliotheca;

Museum

Hermeticuni; Gincsceum Chemicum,

xW1673 under

bibuotHeca chemica;

Albineus' Bibliotheca Chemica Contracta, and afancifultitles,

swarm of

others

which have been amusingly

classified

by Kopp.only,

Some

of the smaller ones

may

contain three or four tractsBibliotheca,

while the Tkeatrum Chemicum^ and Manget'slargest, contain

which are the

about two hundred and a hundred and forty respectively,length.is

some of considerableIn

French

there

the

Bibliotheque

Chitnique

of

'

le

Sieur

S.'

enlarged by Richebourg.In

German

there

is

the Vellus Aureum, Tancke's Promptuarium, the

translation of the Pretiosation of the

Margarita of Lacinius, Morgenstern's transla-

Ars Aurifera, Roth-Scholtz's Deutsches Theatrum Chemicumcalled

the

body of extracts

Hermetisches

A.

B.

C, and Schroder's

Alchymistische Bibliothek.In English there are Salmon's translation of Hermes, Geber, Kalid,

Bacon, and Flamel, appended to his Medicina Practica, the CollectaneaChymica, and the Aurifontina Chymica,

These collected editionsthecatalogue,for,

haveit

impressedup,titles,its

a

distinctive

feature

on

in

drawingrespective

the

contents

haveitemor,

beenhas

duly

recordedenteredboth.

underunder

theirits

while

eachtitle,

been

author's

name, orin

own

maybe, under

This was a necessity,

order that no document bearing on the

subject should be2.

by any chance overlooked.thereality

But besides these authors who were concerned solely or mainly

with alchemy, there were others who, without questioning ofit,

employed

its

principles

merely

as

aof

guide,

andinto

instead

of

attemptingsilver,

to effect

practically the

change

metals

gold and

used, partly for medicine, partly for the practical arts, the

know-

ledge of substances accumulated by the alchemists and others.

This epoch was inaugurated by Paracelsus

in

the sixteenth centuryof medicine, and

by

his asserting that

alchemy was one of the

pillars

that

alchemy was not confined to transmutation of metals, but was thesubstances for medical use;

art of preparing

that,

in

fact,

it

was the

art

of the transmutation of every kind of matter.iatro-chemicalschool,

Paracelsus startedaswell

the

and

he

had

manyto

followers,

as

manybooks

opponents.

His

theories;

belong

the

history

of

medicine

rather than of chemistry

still,

his adherents

were chemists, and wroteopponents,in

on chemistry

for

physicians, while

his

order to

:

INTRODUCTIONcontroverthis

doctrines,science.

had

themselves

to

acquire

some

familiarity

with the

new

Of

the

iatro-chemical

school,

some supportingand

Paracelsus'

views,

others accepting

them with

reservation

criticism,

and

still

others

breaking away from them,

may

be mentioned Quercetanus, Thurneysser,Crollius,

Dorn, Rhenanus, Libavius, Beguinus,

Sala,

Polemann,

Potier,

Joannes Agricola, Pierre Faber,

v.

Helmont, Glauber, Lefevre, Glaser,Guibertus,

Lemery,

Rolfinck,

Tachenius,Bolnest,

Barchusen,Brendelius,

Ludolf,

Morley,

Sennertus,

Rivinus,

Charas,

Elsholtz,

Jungken,

Poppius, Hoffmann, Wedel, Mynsicht.3.

The epochfirst

of scientific chemistry began with two controversies.that

The

wasof

between

Conringof the;

and

Borrichius

as

to

the

antiquity

Hermes, the

reality

Hermetic medicine and thesecond wasthediscussion

soundness of Paracelsus' innovations

the

by Boyle of the elements or principles of the chemists and of theAristotelians.

Thisa

was

the

first

systematic

criticism

of

chemical

theory

from

purely

scientific

or

philosophical

standpoint,

and

it

gradually led to an observation ofto medicine, or arts, or alchemy.

phenomena apart fromThose who pursuedMarggraf,

applications

this course and,

so

to

speak

inaugurated

scientific

chemistry, were Becher andPriestley,Crell,

Stahl,

Lemery,Scheele,d'Arcet,

Boerhaave,Sage,

Weigel,

Rothe,

Lavoisier,

Baume,

Bergman,

Scopoli,

Achard,

Dandolo,Wiegleb,

Demachy,

Trommsdorff,

Spielmann,

Teichmayer,

Jacquin, Scherer, Fourcroy, Macquer, Claude de la Metherie, Morveau.

Without belonging

to

any of these

periods, as has been said above,

there are works in the library which, while involving a certain

amount of

chemistry, are concerned not with transmutation, or medicine, or theories

and

speculations, but with the needs of ordinaryscience.

life,

or with the positive

and technical side of the

AmongEncelius,

these are

the

miners and metallurgists; Ercker, Entzel or

George Agricola, Alonso Barba, Sir John Pettus, Webster, Gabriel Plattes, Lohnayss assayers as Schreitmann, Zimmermann, and;:

the

anonymous author of the ProbierNicols,

Biichlein:

;

the.Neri,;

mineralogists

Marbodaeus,

Henckel

;

technologistsall

as

Merrett

and

Haudicquer de Blancourt, wholished a little treatise

wrote about glassrosin,

Axt, who pub-

on the making of

wood\

tar

and charcoal

;

Caneparius, the author of the treatise de Atramentis

the compilers of

xvi

BIBLIOTHECA CHEMICAsecrets, as

books of practical receipts andLemnius, Wecker,

they were called, such as the

author of the Rechter Gebrauch d'Alchimei, Andriessen, Fioravanti, Alessio,

Hughin

Plat,

Kertzenmacher, Cortese, Schmuck.insightinto

In

some

respects,

as

giving

everyday practical

working,

these books are as interesting and important as any.

The books on pharmacyas they are,Praepositus,

also constitute a series

by themselves, but

with

one or two exceptions, such as the Dispensarium of Luminare Majus of Manlius de Boscho, Lumen Apothe-

cariorum of Quiricus, Thesaurus of Gesner,

comparativelymostwereait,

recent, they

dothe

not require specialItis

notice.all

an illustration of the persistence of an idea thatcentury toits

throughdis-

eighteenth

very close, when

important

coveries were

making andto

entirely

new

theories

advanced, thefact

controversy

as

the

rejility

of transmutation

as

and as a

theorythe

wasder

still

sustained.

At the opening ofit

in

1702, came

attack

by Soldnerreplied

as

is

said

in

the

Teutsches Fegfeuer der

Scheide-Kunst,

to;

in

the

Erlosung der Philosophen aus deinvindication

Fegfeuer

Chymisten

Creiling's

of

alchemy

in

Die

Edelgeborne

Jungfera

Alchymia,

1730,as

Lenglet

Dufresnoy'sFictuld's

Histoire,

1742,Stein,false

which1753,

must be regardedsort

unfavourable;dictionary theauthor's

Probier-

of

biographicalfor

of

genuine

andthan

alchemists,

moreas

remarkablesupplied;

judgmentsof

for

thein

information

the

curious

dictionarystrives

Pernety,

1753,

which

in

his

other;

work heWiegleb'slearned

to

interpret

thetruth

myths of antiquityof

as

Hermetic

onslaught

on

the

alchemy,

1777,

with

Kortum'softhe

andof

rather

dexterous

reply,

1789, and

the

collection

narrativesclosein

aboutthefor

transmutationcentury,

byto

Giildenfalk,

1784.

Then

at

1797time

1799,

appeared

Gmelin's

Geschichte,

which

the

first

the Subject was treated as a whole, andhistory,

as an independent branch of

without

bias,

and apart from controversy as to the truth orit,

reality of

any section of

but merely as a record of events, persons

and books.Inasthis,

All these, with others of less note, are in the library.toI

endeavouring

construct

the

catalogue

of

suchI

a

library

which labour

undertook at Dr. Young's request,it

considered

who werefor

likely to consult

and how best

it

could be n>ade serviceable

the

study of the

history

of chemistry.

The

persons

who may

INTRODUCTIONpossibly refer toare,init

besidesplace,

those

who

actually use the library itselfbooksellers,

the

first

librarians,

bibliographers,if

andin

collectors

of this branch of literature,

there be

any

such, and,

the second, students.

For the convenience of theconstructed on a moreliberal

first

group, the

catalogue

has

been

and elaborate

scale

thanlist

wouldof short

havetitles

been necessary, had the object been merely to make asufficienttitles

to

serve

as

a register for thefull,

library.is

Instead

of that the

are reproduced init

the particular copy

described,

and any

peculiarities

may

possess are noted, other editions

are

enumerated,in

and,

when

practicable,

an account of them,

too,

is

added, which

many cases has To the differentforis

been possible by inspection of the books themselves.classes offor

bookmen

these details

mayas

be

convenientliterature

reference,

and

comparison with

other

copies.far

The

scarce, obscure

and almost unknown, and, solists

my

experience

goes, while there areis

and enumerations of alchemical books, thereit.

no bibliography of any part of

More

particularly intended for the student,

who

is

concerned with

the contents rather than with the externals of the books, are the notes

which contain biographical and descriptive

details

and discuss doubtfulmatters.

or disputed points of chronology, authorship, and other

The

authors of most of these books are strangers

in

this

country and are

but

little

remembered, or thought

of,

in

their

own.

Someseemed

of them,

however, were amongst the foremosttheirlives,

men

of their day, conspicuousIt

by

learning,

discoveries

andI

writings.

desirable

therefore, in carrying out the plan

had drawn

up, to give the studentdifferent

some notion of thefar as lay in

position

and authority of therefer to

writers so

my

power, to

the questionsto

which have arisen

about them or

their

writings,

and

the

criticisms

and

judgments

which have been passed upon them.

As

it

was impossibleI

to accomplish this in

full

within

the

limitsI

of a catalogue,

have endeavouredassist

by

lists

of authorities,furtherin

whom

have been able to consult, tothe field for himself.

the student

surveying

In the authorities quoted others

will

be found,

andtill

in

these again others, and so the student can continue his researchliterature,

he has exhausted thefirst

and possessed himself of

all

avail-

able information at

hand.

BIBLIOTHECA CHEMICAThe authorities are not all of equal value for while some supply much sound information, others furnish an irreducible minimum. Nor;

do they always agree as to dates and other matters ofadefect,

fact,

which

is

andwhich

theiris

criticisms

and decisionsimportance;

also

are

sometimes

at

variance,

of

very

little

but

this

uncertaintyorigin-

adds to theality

liveliness

andlong

zest of the

inquiry,

and stimulatespart,

and independence of judgment on the student'shis

for

he mustif

lay

account

for

and sometimes

baffling

investigation

he

want toI

arrive at the truth.

have also endeavoured to give him some hold upon the authoritiesfar

by arranging them asis

as

mayin

be

chronologically.

An

advantage

that

if

they be examined

this

sequence,

the

statements

made,

whether accurate or inaccurate, can be traced to their sources, and thus

by

careful

examination

"

and

comparisonare

it

can

be

decidedcopyists.

who

are

original

authorities

andis

who

compilers

and

Another

advantage of the

lists

that from their extent and

the status of the

persons composing them, an inference can be drawn as to the import-

ance and interest surrounding any particular writer, from his own timeto the present.

Allis

theaffair

rest

is

for

the

studentfacts,

of theto

history

himselfthe

to

do

;

it

his;

to

examine thewhatifis

doubts,correct

difficulties,is

the

errors

to

confirm

correct,

what

faulty

and

wrong, to throw light

possible on confusedreconcile

and debateable problems,averments andIn the present

and to confessopinions,

his

inability tofor

contradictoryfailed

when the meanswill

doing so have

him.

work he

find

plenty of opportunities

for

expending labour and

exercising his critical faculties.

Nor docorrect

I

presumefinal.

to think thatis

what

I

have said

is

in

every case

and

There

too great a want of agreement

amongst

the authorities foras

any

one, at this

time of day, to do more than get

near the truth as possible through the mists of defective recordsdiscordantresults.

and

Theliable

brief

abstracts

and

accounts

which

I

have given are therefore

to

such modification, or correction, as

further examination of the existing authorities, ornecessitate.

new

discoveries,

may;

There

isI

no weed which spreads so quickly as errorhave introduced aslittle

I

can only hope thatments.

One, however, cannot escape

the

may be common lot,as

in

my

state-

but

one can

INTRODUCTIONperhapsaliquid

xix

plead,

with Lactantius, thesit

common

imperfection

:

" est

enim

medium quod

hominis, scilicet scientiasuccess this work

cum

ignorantia con-

juncta et temperata,"

WhatI

may

achieve will depend

on the proportion of those constituents, and how they are combined.

The inducement whichis

have had to go into the matter

in

detail,in

simply the want of a book of any kind whatever on the subject

English, while those which exist in other languages, ininstance,

German

for

do not cover

this

ground.in

With the exception of Ladrague,75copies,is

whose work, printedreproduces the

at

Moscowfull.

about as rare as a

manuscript, no one supplies eventitles

the pagination, and

no one

at

all

in

The

compilationit

of the present work,

therefore, afforded an opportunity,

which

behoved

me

not to neglect, not

merely of making a catalogue, but of attempting to begin a bibliography,at all events within the limitsfilling

which the collection allowed, and of thus

a gap in the literature of the history of chemistry, while the

addition of the biographical notes and the references to the authoritiesconstituted

a guide to the relative

literature.

In

no better way,

it

seemedIf,

to me, couldfor

the purpose of the founder be attained.in

such flaws

the plan andI

its

execution as use

mayI

reveal,

an apology be necessary,

can use the words of Pliny, without,:

hope,

being charged with presumptionpraiterierint.

"

nee dubitamus, multa esse, quae et noset

Homines enim sumus,ista

occupati

officiis

:

subcisivisque

temporibus

curamus,

id

est,

nocturnis, ne quis

vestrum

putet his

cessatum

horis."

Atwhich

the conclusion of a work like the present, one can hardly refrainit.

from contemplating the theme ofis

It deals

with phases of a science

of active interest and

influence justas to

now

certainly,

but

is

as

different

from

its

former condition

views, aims, methods, and

results, as if there

never had been any connection between them.

Yet

the chemistry of therapid development

moment is also merely a phase, and by its so much less stable than that of three hundred the books Still years ago, when discovery made slower advance. enumerated here, unattractive as they are even unintelligible, maybe record the thought and experience of many men, some of them amongis

more

the most skilful and far-seeing of their time.

But

their

labours have

disappeared astheir

if

they had never been, their controversies are forgotten,

discoveries

have

long

ago

been

assimilated

into

common

;

XX

BIBLIOTHECA CHEMICAwhat was right"

knowledge was

;

in

their

work

has, as far as they are con:

cerned, shared the fate of what wastheirs.

wrong

it is

not even;

knownaway

that

it

The

chiefs of other times are departed

they have gonepass;

without their fame.

The

sons of future years shall

andhis

another race

arise."

Let

not the modern student of science imagine

that he

and

workmostwill

will

escape the universal doom.

His discoveries,

his theories, thelater

recent, the

most comprehensive and progressive, sooner orSuch, at

become mererulein

archaeological data, to be included, or, just as likely,least,

omitted, in a historical review of this time.

has beenthere

theis

chemistry for the last eighteen hundred years, andits

no sign of"

being

suspended

in

favour

of

any chemist of

to-day.

Thus times db

shift

;

each thing his turne do's hold

NewItis

things succeed as former things grow old."

this

phenomenon which

stimulates to the writing of historyit

and to the antiquarian research on which

rests,

the passing, namely,

of the generations with their ideas and pursuits.inevitable,

But change

itself

is

and as the past conditions cannot be recalled or reproduced,most that can be doneis

either in the individual or the race, the

to

record something of them.

The

history of chemistry, as indeed of

all science, is

but a succession

of epitaphs

upon forgotten men and forgotten discovery.to

Whatand

thenin

do these men not owedoing

him who gathers uphuman,

their works,lift

so

recalls their achievements,

and thus labours to

that icy pall ofit

oblivion which descends on everything

just because

is

human,

imperfect, temporary, and has to be forgotten toelse?

It

was to mitigate that

fate as far as

make way for something human effort can, when it

has to strive with the eternal law and necessity of change, that thisgathering of the writings of bye-gone thinkers and workers was made.

That they were struggling with error-obscuredof reality should

vision towards the light

cause

not neglect of them and contempt for their

shortcomings

and

failures,

but

should

arouse

the

fellow-feeling

and

interest of those

who

at the presentfor

momentis

are engaged in theis

sameDr.foster

struggle,

and whose turn

neglect

and contempthis effort to

coming.

Young

realized this,

and the library

awaken and

such sympathy and remembrance.

INTRODUCTIONWhether or notcontemplated asof Dr.I

have

succeededit

by the present cataloguefor

in

carrying out his wish to

makeit

as

instructive

the

purpose he

may

be,is

is

impossible forI

me

to say.

The

decision;

Youngshould

himself

what

should have

pre-eminently desired

andin

I

have prized the judgment of one other, whose interest

the catalogue was to

me

its

inspiration,

and whose verdict atstill.

its

close

would have beenfriends

my

reward.

But these voices are nowin

Toby

who have

assisted

me

various ways,for

by loans of books,difficult,

references to authorities

to

which access

me wasI

by

revision with

me

of certain portions of the work,

desire to tender

my

warmest thanks.Firstfor

and

last

I

have read the proofs, andexist.

amI

alone responsible

whatever errors and misprintsthis

May

ask those

who may

have to consultat the

book not

to overlook the additions

and corrections

end of the second volume ?

So, in the old-fashioned words of old Jean

Rey

:

"

Le

trauail a este

mien,

le

profit

en

soit

au lecteur, et a Dieu seul

la

gloire."

JOHN FERGUSON.Glasgow, 13 Newton Place,2yrd January, 1906.

CATALOGUE

CATALOGUEA. (A).

Naturalium Cultor.

Gliicks-Ruthe zu Paracelsi

Chymischem

Schatz.

See MERCURll Zweyfacher Schlangen-stab, 1679.

A.

(J.).

M.D.

See DARIOT (CLAUDE).

AALBERT.De wonderbare Geheymen, van denGedruktto

Groote en Klyne Aalbert,to

in 3

Deelen.

te Parys, I n't Jaar 100,000.8.

Small

Title leaf; Part;

I., sigs.

A^

C

C

in eights [pp. 3-48]

Part

III.,

sigs. A.^ to

in eights, or pp. 3-48 Part II., sigs. A, n eights, or pp. 3-44 the last two;

C

;

leaves are blank.

This chap-book contains three tracts with separate and pagination. Each tract seems to have had originally a title-page, but these have been cancelled and the above general title substituted. The book is one which, from its false date and almost certainly false place, and from its having been sewn up at the top and outer margin, has been sold under some kind of restriction.signatures

The

first tract is

taken mainly from the Physio-

nomia of Michael Scotus. The second is called Het Profyt der Vrouwen, and contains remedies

The third is a miscelfor feminine complaints. laneous collection of receipts, medical, culinary, The book is not a reproduction physiological, etc. The of either Albertus Magnus or Parvus. receipts contain nothing distinctively chemical oralchemical.

ABBATIASendSee

(Antonius

de).

Brieff

von Verwandelung der Metallen.vortreffliche. ..

DREY

^^