LIST OF CONTENTS original: "ELENCHVS"

Joseph Quercetanus of Armenia. Also known as Joseph Duchesne (c. 1544–1609), he was a French physician to King Henry IV and a major proponent of Paracelsian medicine, which emphasized chemical remedies over traditional herbal ones. A response to the abusive letter of Jacques Aubert of Vendôme concerning the origin and causes of metals. Jacques Aubert was a vocal critic of the chemical philosophy; this response is a spirited defense of the "new" chemistry of the 16th century.

John Dee of London. A world-renowned Elizabethan polymath, mathematician, and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. The Hieroglyphic Monad. original: "Monas Hieroglyphica." First published in 1564, this is one of the most famous works of Western esotericism. It uses a single complex symbol to represent the unity of the cosmos, combining the signs for the sun, moon, elements, and the zodiac sign Aries.

Lorenzo Ventura. A 16th-century Venetian physician and alchemist. A book on the method of preparing the Philosophers' Stone.

Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola. The nephew of the famous Renaissance philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. He wrote this treatise in 1515 to argue that the transmutation of metals was possible and consistent with Catholic doctrine. On Gold.

Roger Bacon. A 13th-century English Franciscan friar and philosopher (c. 1214–1292) known as "Doctor Mirabilis." He is celebrated for his early emphasis on the experimental method. The Mirror of Alchemy.

Richard the Englishman. Often identified with Richard of Wendover, a 13th-century physician. This text was highly influential in the late Middle Ages. The Correctorium. original: "Correctorium." A title implying a "correction" or a guidebook to the proper path of the alchemical work.

The Lesser Rosary, on the knowledge of metallic things. original: "Rosarius Minor." An anonymous medieval alchemical text, part of a genre of "Rosaries" (rose gardens) that collected the "flowers" of alchemical wisdom.

Albert the Great. Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280), a Dominican bishop and teacher of Thomas Aquinas. He was one of the most prolific scholars of the Middle Ages, though many alchemical texts were attributed to him by later writers to gain authority. On Alchemy.

Giovanni Agostino Pantheo. A 16th-century Venetian priest and alchemist. The Art and Theory of metallic transmutation, together with the Voarchadumia, illustrated with numbers and images suited to the subject. "Voarchadumia" is a term Pantheo invented, likely from Hebrew and Chaldean roots, to describe a "holy" alchemy or a "liberal art" of metal-working that he distinguished from common, fraudulent alchemy.