Chemical Library

§. 2. Concerning the praises original: "elogiis" of alchemy given by PENOTUS and DU CLOS at the end of their lives. Bernard Gilles Penot (c. 1519–1617) and Samuel Cottereau du Clos (1598–1685) were both famous alchemists who, after decades of study and significant financial loss, left behind complex reflections on the art—Penot famously warned others away from the pursuit despite his lifelong devotion to it.

§. 3. Rational reasons why Alchemy is not to be recommended to anyone?

§. 4. What is to be thought of "particular" works? In alchemy, a "particular" work refers to the transformation of a specific base metal into gold or silver, as opposed to the "universal" work of creating the Philosopher's Stone, which was believed to heal all things and transform any metal.

§. 5. Whether Alchemy is better suited to great lords than to private individuals?

§. 6. That few courts of great lords are found where laboratories have never existed; with CELLIUS’S poem original: "carmine" or panegyric of the late Duke Frederick of Württemberg. Duke Frederick I of Württemberg (1557–1608) was a legendary patron of alchemy who maintained extensive laboratories and employed many famous (and sometimes fraudulent) alchemists. Erhard Cellius was a scholar who recorded these courtly activities.

§. 7. Why successful alchemical works are rarely found at the courts of great lords.

§. 8. How it is to be wished that great lords would allow chemical experiments original: "in Chymicis" to be performed.

A decorative woodcut tailpiece consisting of symmetrical floral and scrollwork patterns, typical of 18th-century book ornamentation.