A decorative woodcut headpiece ornament consisting of repeating scrolls and floral motifs spans the top of the page.

OF TREATISES AND CHAPTERS

WITHIN THE

CURIOUS CHEMICAL LIBRARY

THE CURIOUS CHEMICAL LIBRARY
BOOK I. SECTION I. SUBSECTION I.
A Dissertation on the Origin and Progress of Chemistry, by the author Olaus Borrichius Original: "Olao Borrichio." Ole Borch (1626–1690) was a Danish polymath who wrote one of the first formal histories of alchemy, tracing it back to ancient Egypt., Royal Physician and public Professor at the Academy of Copenhagen. Volume I. Page 1

SUBSECTION II.
An Overview of Famous Chemical Writers by the same Author. Vol. I. p. 38

BOOK I. SECTION II. SUBSECTION I.
Athanasius Kircher’s Dissertation on the Philosopher’s Stone. 54
Chap. I. What the Philosopher’s Stone is, and whether true and natural Gold can be produced by art with its help. Ibid.
Chap. II. Whether a true and real transmutation of one metal into another is possible. 59
Chap. III. On the method and reasoning for preparing the Philosopher’s Stone and the Tincture The "Tincture" or "Universal Medicine" was believed to be a liquid form of the Stone capable of "staining" base metals into gold or curing all diseases.. 62
Chap. IV. The perfect Mastery of the Great Art Magisterium The "Magisterium" refers to the highest level of alchemical achievement or the completed "Great Work." according to Lull, Azoth, and others is examined. 66
Chap. V. Wherein it is taught that the previously mentioned Alchemical Processes cannot be sustained. 68
Chap. VI. All attempts at Gold-making Chrysopœia From the Greek chrysos (gold) and poiein (to make); the art of making gold. are demonstrated from Arnold of Villanova, etc. 70
Chap. VII. Objections in favor of the said Processes and their Authors are refuted. 75
Chap. VIII. Regarding the tricks, deceptions, and ways by which Alchemists once boasted they could make true gold, and even to this day do not cease to boast. 79
Chap. IX. That a Demon Kircher, a Jesuit, often attributed alchemical success to demonic intervention or trickery rather than natural science. for the most part involves himself with the practitioners of Alchemy. 81
On Sophistical Alchemy, that is, on that Alchemy which, by joining gold and silver with Copper, Lead, and Tin, melts together Gold with a great increase in mass.
Cap. I. On the various false and illicit sophistical operations of different people. 82
Cap. II. On the lawful or unlawful Gold-making of the Chemists, which they call "by apposition," or where part to part—that is, any metal joined to Gold—multiplies it. 85
Cap. III. On the artificial Gold-making Original: "Chrysopœia" of the Chemists. 93
Whether Chemical Gold is lawful.
Cap. II. Legal-Canonical Decisions regarding false and true Chemical Gold. 104
Cap. III. What the Philosopher's Stone properly was among the ancient Alchemists, and what finally the ancient Philosophers, and their modern Followers, understood by it, is revealed. Ibid.
A contrasting conclusion, by which the Mastery of the Great Art is shown to be something entirely different

from what the false Alchemists promise, and is understood by true Philosophers based on what has been said thus far. 109

SUBSECTION II.
A brief appeal to Philosophers on behalf of the Philosopher’s Stone, against the anti-chemical "Subterranean World" of Athanasius Kircher Kircher's Mundus Subterraneus (1665) was a massive work on geology that famously attacked the reality of alchemical transmutation. the Jesuit, by the author Salomon de Blauvenstein. Vol. I. 113

SUBSECTION III.
A Treatise on the Universal Tincture, in which the existence of the Philosophical Stone is specifically defended against the Reverend Father Athanasius Kircher, by the author Gabriel Clauder, M.D. Vol. I. 119
Chap. I. Presenting the occasion for writing. Ibid.
Chap. II. Explaining what the Universal Tincture is. 121
Chap. III. That it is found in the nature of things. 126
Chap. IV. Examining whether it is advisable for a Christian to inquire directly into the Universal Tincture. 141
Chap. V. Declaring from what material the Universal Tincture is prepared. 148
Chap. VI. Showing in what manner the Universal Tincture is prepared. 159

SUBSECTION IV.
On the Transmutation of Metals, a Letter to the most Noble Man Joel Langelott, Chief Physician to the Serene Prince of Cimbria, by Daniel Georg Morhof, Professor at Kiel. Vol. I. 168

SUBSECTION V.
Chemical Gold by Dr. Philipp Jakob Sachs von Lewenheimb. 192

SUBSECTION VI.
The Golden Calf Original: "Vitulus Aureus." A reference to the biblical idol, used here as a title to mock those who worship wealth, while presenting a famous account of transmutation. which the world adores and prays to, in which is treated the rarest Miracle of Nature in Transmuting Metals: namely, how a whole substance of Lead was changed into pure Gold in the Hague within a moment, by a tiny particle of the true Philosophical Stone; by the author Johann Friedrich Helvetius. Vol. I. 196
Chap. I. On the truth of the Gold-making Stone. Vol. I. p. 197
Chap. II. Various Writings on the same truth. 199
Chap. III. The History, which the Author focuses on in this treatise. 201
Chap. IV. A conversation between Elias the Artist A legendary figure in alchemy said to appear and teach the final secrets of the art. and a Physician. 205

SUBSECTION VII.
On the Law of the Alchemical Art, that is, the Judgments and Responses of various Authors and especially Jurists to the Question: Is Alchemy a Legitimate Art? Collected by Johannes Chrysippus Fanianus. Vol. I. 210