PREFACE

A decorative woodcut headpiece featuring symmetrical foliate scrolls, acanthus leaves, and floral motifs.

TO THE SINCERE

READER, GREETINGS. original: "CANDIDO LECTORI S." The "S." is an abbreviation for Salutem, a standard Latin greeting wishing the reader health or prosperity. "Sincere" or "Fair" was a common way to address an unbiased reader.

From the more hidden secrets of Nature and the inner sanctuaries original: "penetralibus." This term refers to the most private or sacred parts of a temple, suggesting that the author is revealing "inner" alchemical mysteries. of the Philosophers, this Harmony The title of the work, Harmonia Chimica. emerges into the light, O kind Reader, both so that it might draw those who see more clearly (or so they imagine themselves) in this art out from the dense shadows of ignorance, and so that in rough places, indeed even pla- The text ends mid-sentence with the catchword "pla-," likely for planis (level ground) or plano. Catchwords were printed at the bottom of pages to help bookbinders and readers ensure the correct sequence of sheets.