MANUSCRIT. — GUIDO DE MONTANOR

Lot 66
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5000 - 6000 EUR
MANUSCRIT. — GUIDO DE MONTANOR
Thesaurus Chymiatricus i. e. Thresor long hidden from the very famous & very excellent art of Chymie. second half of the 17th century]. In-4 manuscript (about 225 x 170 mm), 6 unquantified sheets and 56 pages, turned calf (original binding). Exceptional 17th century manuscript giving a probably unpublished French translation of the Arte chymica libellus, a treatise on the transmutation of metals by Guido de Montanor, a French alchemist who lived between the 14th and 15th centuries (cf. Ferguson, t. II, p. 100). As the title page indicates, the translation of this wonderful and very rare work was made in October 1664 in Paris from the German edition published in Halle in 1623, which had been prepared by Hermann Condeisyanus; to our knowledge, there is no printed French version of this treaty of alchemy. The manuscript, transcribed from the Autograph of the said translator[a person named M. D. S. S.] was copied by a person who signed at the bottom of the title page: Delaborye or Deloberye (?). It contains a table of chapters (3 pages), a title page and a preface (5 pages) and the text which is divided into three parts, each dealing with the conversion of metals by vegetable, animal and mineral stone. The manuscript belonged to Jean d'Espagnet, President of the Parliament of Bordeaux and a renowned alchemist of the early 17th century, with his handwritten signature on the second plate, then to the alchemist and freemason Louis-François de Bourbon-Busset (1749-1829), with his ex-libris. Notes and ancient alchemical recipes at the beginning and end of the manuscript. Folds on the leaves, some freckles. Stains on dishes.
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