Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal: material on alchemy

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. Copies de pièces manuscrites rélatives à l'Alchimie et aux sciences occultes. Author's holograph MS. Illustrated by pen-drawings of alchemical symbolic figures, apparatus, etc. copied from the MSS. The entries are full, and in some cases, there are transcriptions of short pieces. There are indexes of MSS. by numbers, titles, names, etc. An inserted folder contains further extracts and notes by Poisson, with some written by another band. There are five leaves of original MS. alchemical receipts by late 18th and early 19th cent. hands. On the title-page Poisson has written: 'Commencé le 30 mars, 1894. Fini le 18 mai 1894'. He died on 27 June. Produced in Paris.

1894

1 volume 1 l. + 276 pp. + 1 bl. l. + 15 ll. + 5 ll. 4to. 211/2 × 171/2 cm. Original boards. Calligraphic title in red and blue.

Purchased at Sotheby's (Hauser Sale), 18/4/1934, Lot 452 (part).

From the Library of Lionel Hauser of Paris, with his press-mark label 'L'H.62 bis'.

Database description transcribed from S.A.J. Moorat, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1962-1973).