From the library of: Vence This is a provenance mark indicating the book once belonged to the library of the Marquis de Vence or a similar collection.

OSIRIS

TYPHON.

ISIS.
These are the primary Egyptian deities Maier identifies with the alchemical process: Osiris (the king/matter), Isis (the feminine principle/nature), and Typhon (the destructive force/solvent).

HERCULES.

THE SECRETS

OF ALL SECRETS

original: "Arcana Arcanissima"

THAT IS

HIEROGLYPHS

EGYPTIAN-GREEK,

Commonly not yet known,

to demonstrate the origin of the false

gods, goddesses, heroes, animals,

and customs received as sacred among the

ancients, deduced from a single Egyptian craft, which

produced the golden medicine of the

soul and body; Maier is claiming that all of ancient religion and myth was actually a "cover story" for the "Egyptian craft"—his term for alchemy—and its goal of creating a universal cure or the Philosopher's Stone. Whence so many allegories of poets,

fabulous narrations of writers, and errors

scattered throughout the entire Circle of Knowledge

original: "Encyclopædiam"

are revealed by the clearest light of truth,

and each thing is restored to its own category,

set forth in six books.

By the Author

MICHAEL MAIER, COUNT

OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE, KNIGHT EXEMPT,

Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine, and formerly

Court Physician to His Imperial Majesty.

Michael Maier (1568–1622) was a famous alchemist and physician to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. The title "Knight Exempt" Equite Exempto means he was granted a rank that excused him from certain feudal duties.
DIONYSUS.

IBIS.

APIS.

DOG-HEADED BABOON.
original: "Cynocephalus". This refers to the Egyptian deity Thoth, often depicted as a baboon, who was the god of writing and wisdom.