A decorative typographic headpiece consisting of three horizontal rows of ornaments. The top and bottom rows feature repeating floral fleur-de-lis motifs, while the middle row contains more intricate scrollwork patterns.

J. J.

original: "J. J." Likely an abbreviation for "Jesu Juva" (Latin for "Jesus, help"), a common pious invocation placed at the beginning of 18th-century manuscripts and books to ask for divine assistance in the work.

Benevolent Reader! original: "Lector benevole!"

Here I lay before your eyes several experiments original: "Experimenta" concerning gold, which serve both for your enjoyment and, depending on the person, for practical use. It addresses the destruction of gold original: "destructionem auri" so long sought after—and still being sought—by today’s world.

If I am asked what I think of this process, I can neither condemn nor praise it. It is indeed true that it is impossible to bring a body original: "Corpus." In alchemy, this refers to the solid, physical state of a metal before it is chemically "opened" or dissolved. to its desired utility without destruction (which must result from the fire). For my part, I hold some stock in this, and I believe that which the ancients [taught] us through their Phoenix—the bird which, when burned to ashes, returns to life original: "revivisciret" again, and from whose ashes many thousands of young emerge. In this same way and manner, it is my opinion that if we can burn the beautiful Phoenix (that is, the gold), we