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1.
  • Genealogical chronicle roll of the kings of England from Alfred the Great (r. 871-899) to Richard II (r. 1377-1399).

Curatorial Notes:
The genealogical chronicle roll of kings was a common genre of historical literature in late medieval England. Although deluxe versions were made as gifts to patrons, smaller, portable rolls also served a practical function. This late 14th-century example may have been used as a reference tool by monks with archival and legal responsibilities. 102 roundels include the names of 27 English kings, each surmounted by a crown. For early modern collectors like Ashmole, such documents offered insight into England’s medieval past.
Credit Line:
Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
Publisher:
[England], [approximately 1377]
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/99115511433506421

2.
  • De rervm varietate libri XVII , 1558

Curatorial Notes:
The De rerum varietate (On the Variety of Things) was written by the Italian polymath Girolamo Cardano as a supplement to his influential De subtilitate (On Subtlety). The German reader of this copy has added a list of symbols and their meanings to the flyleaf, including the standard metals and salts, as well as apparatus like the bain-marie, or water-bath (“B.M.”).
Credit Line:
Rare Books Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
Creator:
Cardano, Girolamo, 1501-1576
Publisher:
Avinione : per M. Vincentivm, 1558.
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/9924819403506421

3.
  • Theatrum chemicum Britannicum, Containing Severall Poeticall Pieces of our Famous English Philosophers, Who Have Written the Hermetique Mysteries, 1652

Curatorial Notes:
In 1652 Elias Ashmole published the first English edition of the Ripley Scroll verses in the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. A prolific collector, Ashmole himself owned five Ripley Scrolls, now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. He also examined Leonard Smethley’s Scroll, and transcribed Smethley’s notes into his personal copy of the Theatrum. By attributing the verses to George Ripley in print, Ashmole ensured that the Scrolls would continue to be associated with the 15th-century alchemist.
Credit Line:
Rare Books Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
Publisher:
London : Printed by J. Grismond for Nath. Brooke, at the angel in Cornhill, [1652]
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/99109549413506421

4.
  • Secrets Reveal'd; or, An Open Entrance to the Shut-Palace of the King, 1669

Curatorial Notes:
Secrets Reveal’d sets down the signature, antimony-based practice of George Starkey, one of the 17th century’s most influential alchemical writers. Born in Bermuda, Starkey studied at Harvard College before moving to London, where he crafted the persona of Eirenaeus Philalethes, a fictive American adept. His commentaries on George Ripley were published posthumously as Ripley Reviv’d (1678). By reinterpreting Ripley’s “red lead” as antimony, Starkey promoted his own chemical innovations while profiting from Ripley’s authority as a famous English adept.
Credit Line:
Rare Books Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
Creator:
Philalethes, Eirenaeus
Publisher:
London, Printed by W. Godbid for William Cooper, 1669.
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/9924727753506421

5.
  • A Chymical Dictionary, in A New Light of Alchymy, Taken out of the Fountain of Nature and Manual Experience, to which is Added a Treatise of Sulphur, 1674

Curatorial Notes:
This chemical dictionary was written to help readers navigate the writings of the Swiss medical reformer Paracelsus. Paracelsus’s novel approach to chemical medicine was distinguished by new and obscure terminology. In this copy, the dictionary helpfully accompanies an English translation of the pseudo-Paracelsian On the Nature of Things. In practice, such dictionaries could not always be relied upon, as the meaning of alchemical terms frequently changed in light of new practical observations and textual readings.
Credit Line:
Rare Books Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
Creator:
Sędziwój, Michał, approximately 1556-approximately 1646
Publisher:
London : printed by A. Clark, for Tho. Williams at the Golden Ball in Hosier-Lane, 1674.
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/99103633163506421

6.
  • The Sceptical Chymist, 1661

Curatorial Notes:
In the Sceptical Chymist, Robert Boyle challenged the Paracelsian idea that matter was composed of three chemical principles: Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt. Yet the work does not disavow transmutational alchemy. Boyle himself conducted extensive alchemical experiments, and studied the work of Ripley and other medieval alchemists. His own view that matter was composed of particles drew on arguments advanced in earlier alchemical writings, including those of Eirenaeus Philalethes — which, unknown to Boyle, were authored by his own chemistry tutor, George Starkey.
Credit Line:
Rare Books Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
Creator:
Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691
Publisher:
Oxford, Printed by H. Hall for R. Davis and B. Took, 1680.
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/9924729023506421

7.
  • Isnignia Gentilia, 1643

Curatorial Notes:
Both Leonard Smethley and Ashmole were interested in heraldry: another art that drew on visual symbolism. This heraldry manuscript contains the crests, in watercolors, of baronets created under King James I and King Charles I. Each entry gives the personal names, place, county of residence, and date on which the baronetcy was conferred. The pigments are similar to those used in Smethley’s 1624 Ripley Scroll. The book was formerly owned by the antiquarian Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872).
Credit Line:
Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/9933403943506421

8.
  • English commonplace book, ca. 1660-1689

Curatorial Notes:
Alchemical material from a variety of sources, including printed books, could be compiled into manuscript recipe collections and commonplace books. Some of the contents of this 17th-century English compendium, dealing with the philosophers’ stone (“Lapis Philosophorum”), may have been extracted from Gerard Malynes, Consuetudo, vel Lex mercatoria, or Ancient Law-Merchant (1629). The seven steps to transmutation (“Gradus ad transmutationem sunt septem”) begin with a sequence of alchemical procedures, including calcination, dissolution, and sublimation.
Credit Line:
Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
View in catalog:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/9973392073506421

9.
  • Elias Ashmole, Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum

Curatorial Notes:
This copy of Ashmole’s Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum was owned by Isaac Newton. Newton’s notes reveal both a practical and a historical interest in 15th-century alchemical verses, particularly those of George Ripley. Newton paid close attention to references to the philosophical mercury, sometimes adding cross-references to Eirenaeus Philalethes’ discussion of mercury in Secrets Reveal’d. Here, below the title of Ripley’s dedicatory poem to Edward IV, Newton notes that the king “raigned from 1460 to 1483.”
Credit Line:
E.F. Smith Collection, University of Pennsylvania Libraries.

10.
  • Star regulus of antimony. Modern reconstruction of early modern process

Curatorial Notes:
This alchemical product is made by first heating stibnite (antimony ore) with iron and saltpeter to extract and purify the metal. The molten antimony cools slowly beneath a layer of slag, creating this dramatic, crystalline structure. George Starkey and Isaac Newton were among those who reproduced this effect.
Credit Line:
Courtesy of Lawrence M. Principe