Lacinius. 1554. One of the earliest collections of alchemical writings
LACINIUS, Janus.
Praeciosa ac nobilissima artis chymiae collectanea de occultissimo ac praeciosissimo Philosophorum lapide.
Norimberga, Gabriel Hayn, 1554.
2500 €
8vo (199x134 cm), (8)-124 leaves.
illustration: One fullpage alchemical woodcut.
binding: Modern quarter limp vellum, flat spine, sprinkled edges.
Few waterstains. Title page soiled.
Second revised edition.
This is one of the earliest collections of alchemical writings, whose core is the "pretiosa margarita novella" from Petrus Bonus (1330), accompanied by extracts from Arnaud de Villeneuve, Lully, Rhasis Albert the Great and Michel Scot.
In this edition, the text has been divided into five sections corresponding to the stages of alchemical processes.
references: Caillet [II, 5910-5911 (ed. 1547 & 1557) : "Lacinio, frère cordelier, célèbre alchimiste, découvrit dans une bibliothèque de Padoue un manuscrit de Pierre Boni, alchimiste italien du XVI° siècle; il s'occupa de le compléter par des extraits des plus fameux traités d'alchimie"], Duveen [p. 332 : "This collection seems to differ considerably from the 1546 edition. Only the last book can be clearly recognised"], Ferguson [II,3 : "It contains collections in five books the last of which is a reproduction with modifications of ff. 160-194 in .. of 1546"].
provenance: P. Mercator 1620 (ownership inscription on title).
