Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum First Edition - Elias Ashmole - Bauman Rare Books

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Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum

Elias ASHMOLE

Item#: 81683 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum

“THE MOST IMPORTANT ENGLISH ALCHEMICAL TEXT” (DUVEEN): THE SEMINAL WORK OF ENGLISH ALCHEMY: VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF ASHMOLE’S THEATRUM CHEMICUM, 1652

ASHMOLE, Elias. Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. Containing Severall Poetical Pieces of our Famous English Philosophers, who have written the Hermetique Mysteries in their own Ancient Language… The First Part. London: by J. Grismond for Nath. Brooke, 1652. Quarto, contemporary calf rebacked.

Very rare, complete first edition of Ashmole’s anthology of old alchemical poems, in contemporary calf. Illustrated with 13 lovely, finely detailed engravings (seven full-page), two woodcuts and one folding engraving.

“The greatest virtuoso and curioso that ever was known or read of in England before his time,” Ashmole is still remembered for his history of the Order of the Garter and for his diary. He was also, however, a leading representative of the “great revival of interest in the occult sciences” that marked the early 17th century, and the Theatrum Chemicum remains “his best-known work” (Pyle, 27-28). He published this “first part” of the work (the only part, in fact, to ever see print) in 1652 “notwithstanding family jars, subpenas, sequestrations and frequent sicknesses… [It contains] 29 old English poems on the subject, some very curious” (DNB). “This work gained Ashmole great reputation and was the means of extending his acquaintance in the literary world” (Lowndes, 80). Text complete with one leaf of Table, five pages of Glossary, one page of errata and one leaf of additional errata at the end; pp. 281-84 left out of numbering, as in all copies, 289-93 repeated with distinct text on the different leaves, as issued. Wing A-3987. Owner signature inked out on title page.

Repair to title page. Page 17 with clean 1-3/4” closed tear extending from foremargin into text. A very rare, complete copy of “the most important work of English alchemy” (Duveen).

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
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