An ornamental woodcut headpiece featuring four symmetrical scrollwork cartouches with circular centers, framed by a border of decorative fleurons at the top and bottom.

TO THE

READER.

A decorative drop cap 'S' within a square woodcut frame featuring floral and foliate motifs and a small cherub's head at the top center.Seeing not only the failure most seekers of the Hermetic Art original: "Hermetick Art"; a traditional term for alchemy, named after the legendary figure Hermes Trismegistus. encounter, but also that great numbers of them have fallen into the greatest absurdities—both in regard to their operations original: "Operations"; the specific laboratory procedures or chemical experiments performed by alchemists. and the matter original: "Matter"; the base substances or primary materials intended for transmutation. they work upon—and often wishing to see some remedy applied to rescue those unfortunate people from