JEAN JACQUES

MANGET,

DOCTOR OF MEDICINE,

original: "Jo. Jacobi Mangeti"; Manget (1652–1742) was a prominent Genevan physician and scholar.

And Chief Physician to the Most Serene and Most Powerful King of Prussia,

original: "Archiatri"; a title for a principal or court physician. Manget served Frederick I of Prussia.

THE CURIOUS

CHEMICAL LIBRARY,

original: "Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa"; in the 18th century, "curious" denoted a work of great scholarship, containing rare and specialized information intended for the learned.

TREASURY

MOST FULLY EQUIPPED

of matters pertaining to ALCHEMY:

original: "Alchemiam"; the ancestral science of modern chemistry, focused on the transformation of matter.

Wherein not only

THE GOLD-MAKING ART,

And the history of its more noble writers is handed down; the Truth of the Stone original: "Lapidis Veritas"; referring to the reality and possibility of creating the Philosopher's Stone. is proven by innumerable arguments and experiments, and even by the judgments of legal experts; obscure terms are explained; and warnings against impostors, as well as difficulties occurring in the preparation of the Universal Tincture original: "Tinctura Universali"; another name for the Elixir or Philosopher's Stone, believed to "tinge" or transform base metals into gold, are declared:

But also

ALL THE TREATISES OF THE

most famous men who labored over the Great Elixir, original: "in Magno sudarunt Elixyre"; literally "who sweated over," emphasizing the intense physical and spiritual toil required for the Great Work. and who have written concerning Chrysopoeia original: "Chrysopœa"; a term derived from Greek meaning the "making of gold." from the time of Hermes Trismegistus Hermes "the Thrice-Greatest," the legendary Hellenistic figure to whom the foundational texts of alchemy and hermetic philosophy are attributed. himself, as he is called, down to our own times, are presented together with their principal commentaries, arranged in a fitting order.

For the illustration of all these things, many copperplate engravings have been added.

VOLUME THE FIRST

A large, ornate printer's mark or engraved emblem. In the center is an oval medallion depicting a salamander-like dragon standing amidst leaping flames, a classic alchemical symbol for the element of fire and the stone's persistence. The medallion is set within a heavy, Baroque-style frame. Two bearded male figures, draped in classical robes and holding scrolls or globes, flank the central oval. At the bottom of the frame is a mask-like human face, and the lower corners are decorated with entwined serpents.

GENEVA,

At the expense of CHOUET, G. DE TOURNES, CRAMER, PERACHON, RITTER, & S. DE TOURNES.

These were the various publishers and booksellers in Geneva who shared the significant financial risk of printing such a massive work.

1702