[ALCHIMIE] HOEFER, Ferdinand - Lot 63

[ALCHIMIE] HOEFER, Ferdinand Histoire de la chimie depuis les temps les plus reculés, comprenant une analyse détaillée des manuscrits alchimiques de la Bibliothèque Royale de Paris ; un exposé des doctrines cabalistiques sur la Pierre Philosophale ; l'histoire de la pharmacologie, de la métallurgie et, en général, des sciences et des arts qui se rattachent à la chimie, etc. Paris, Firmin Didot, 1866-1869, 2 volumes in-8, paperback, XII, 542 p., X, 616 pp. Spines cracked, some foxing, mainly at beginning and end of volumes, covers faded with small tears. A highly sought-after second edition, considerably enlarged compared to the 1842-43 original, which immediately aroused considerable interest and success. Chevreul devoted fourteen articles to the various chapters of this work in the Journal des Savants. It was also reviewed in Marcellin Berthelot's Les origines de l'alchimie. In this highly erudite panorama, a great deal of space is given over to the identification and analysis of Hermetic and alchemical doctrines, their various authors and works, through serious and in-depth investigations.