NOTES ON SOME BOOKS OF TECHNICAL
RECEIPTS, OK SO-CALLED ''SECRETS."

JOHN FERGUSON, M.A.,

PrOKKHSOR ok ORKMISTBf IN THE UNIVRRBITT OK OlASOOW.

{From Transactions of the Anhceological Society of Glasgow.)

NOTES ON SOME BOOKS OF TECHNICAL RECEIPTS, OR SO-CALLEl)
\ " SECRETS,"^

JOHN (FEPtCiUSON, M.A.,

Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow.
[Read at a meeting of the Society held at Glasgow on 20th April, 1SS2. |

The following notes may serve to some extent as an introduction
to a subject wide in itself, and with numerous and important con-
nections. Tlie history of practical invention and of technical
progress is one which might well engage tlie attention of students
of anthropology and antiquities, as it throws light on many points
connected with the growth of social life and civilisation. The
desire and the power to turn external ol)jects to his service
and coiTvenience are developed to such an extent in man, that,
among the many differences between him and other animals, may
be reckoned the various arts by which he induces nature to accom-
modate herself to his wants ; among the lower animals one looks
in vain for anything parallel to the arts of cookery, medicine,
metallurgy — to the systematic use of tools, of clothing, of weapons.
In ancient times the various handicrafts were monopolies of
certain families or castes ; in the middle ages the handicraftsmen
were too glad to pursue their callings in obscurity ; it is only in
the most recent years that arts and manufactures ha^ o acquired
such paramount interest, that the special or technical education of
those who are to exercise them has come to be thought of national
importance. While, in the days of the Greeks and Romans, the
artizan was a despicable if not an almost infamous person, and, in
the middle ages, was oppressed by the military and ruling classes,
against whom, nevertheless, he canned on a ceaseless struggle until
he succeeded in asserting his importance, and even his equality with
them, it has been reserved for the pi'esent day for ignorance of
arts and manufactures, and inditierence to their progress, to be as
discreditable as they were fonnerly dignified. The history of

the growth of the arts themselves, and of the attitude of society
towards them, is, therefore, of wider extent, and of greater philo-
sophical interest than at first sight appears. This history has not
as yet been written and, as time goes on and material gathers, the
more difficult it becomes. The only work in which the attempt
has been made is the " History of Inventions" of Beckmann,
written towards the end of last century.* This work, however, is
less a histoiy in the strict sense of the term, than a collection of
antiquarian essays upon various objects of manufacture, and upon
some technical questions. The essays, besides, are not arranged
in any definite order, and have no direct connection with each
other, but they are very elaborate, and show a wonderful amount
of research and knowledge. Since Beckmann's time, I do not
remember any laborious German who has followed up his work.
There is certainly nothing on the subject in English. f

* Beckmaun's work is entitled " Beytriige zur Geschichte der Eh-findungen,"
and it was published at Leipzig, in five volumes, between 1786 and 1805.
An English version and abstract appeared in 1823, in two volumes, and a
new edition was published by Bohn in 1846, in two volumes.

tin writing the above I had forgotten some systematic works on the
history of arts and manufactures which are more consecutive and philo-
sophical but less thorough than Beckmann's collections. There is the work
of Antoine Yves Goguet — " Origine des loix, des arts, cZes' sciences, et de
Icur progrds chez les anciens pciqjles," publi.shed at Paris in 1758. It was
translated into English, and there were two editions, of which that of
1775, in 3 vols., 8vo, is now before me. This book partakes largely of the
character of a treatise on antiquities, but it embraces sections on the
history of arts and manufactures among all the ancient peoples. It
is a curious book, and shows familiarity v/ith the classical writers,
but it is of no authority now, after the research that has been expended,
not only on almost all the topics that the author includes in his discussions,
but also on the authorities to whom he owes his information.

A better and more specialized work is the '^ Geschichte der Teclinologie,"
of Johann H. M. Poppe, in three volumes, published 1807-11, and forming
part of the Gottingen series of histoi'ies of science, arts, and philosophy. In
the more recent Munich sei'ies of histories there is a ^^ Geschichte der
Technologie," by Karl Karmarsch, in one volume, 1872. Both of these
works give good accounts of the growth of arts and manufactures, and
contain numerous references to books and papers on them.

Quite recently I came across a little work entitled " A pleasant and com-
pendious History of Inventions," London, 1C8G, 12mo. In it an attempt is
made to give, in briefest outline, the origin of some important inventions.
Defective as were both the plan and execution of this booklet, the

It is not njy intention now to say anything about the progress ' '—
of arts and manufactures at all, but only to bring under your
notice a section of litei-ature which is nearly ignored by biblio-
graphers and antiquarians, and is altogether out of the ken of
book-reprinting clubs.

It is hardly to be expected that a ])ractical art can have any
literature worth speaking of. The man who is busy })ractising it
can have little time to write about it, and he who wishes to learn it
must put to his hand and work at it, and that under the supervision
of a master, and not by merely reading books. This is the appren-
ticeship that every one must serve. No amount of reading will
make a scul])tor, or a gardener, or a shoemaker, or a surgeon, or a
musical executant. The arts must be acquired by practice, and
they are extended and improved by practice. Every one who
exercises them comes to have special power and certain ways of
doing things, which may enable him to surpass others who are
similarly engaged. These are his " secrets," which very often he
cannot, or will not, reveal to others. Eai^d insight into a
particular case, power of overcoming physical obstacles, ingenious
adaptations of means to ends, exhibition of due care at the right
time, enable one man to effect what othei-s cannot.

In earlier times artists were very chary indeed of telling their
secrets, and in the great craze of the middle ages — -the craze to
make the philosopher's stone — the adepts were continually on their
guard to conceal their art from the unworth}', while revealing
Avhat was thought suitable for the genuine artist to know. The
philosopher was warned to admit no one to his laboratory — or to his
confidence. Even at the present day, secrets have not wholly died
out ; there are manufactures which are still undivulged, and any
one engaged in the scientific investigation of some phenomenon or
law of nature, will not tell his professional brethren unreservedly

author had a very clear notion of the importance of his subject, and of its
general interest.

So far as I know, no complete and systematic work on the liistory of arts
and manufactures has appeared in this country. A collection of essays by
David Bremner on the Industries of Scotland was published at Edinburgli
in 18G9. They deal cliicfly with the then states of tlie industries, althouuli
there are usually short liistorical narratives prefixed. Tlic work entitled
'■'■ Manufaciur'mrf ArU in Ancient y'iwf.s'," by James Napier, London, ISTt.
8vo, is occupied almost entirely with the history of metals aud of dyeing.

a2

what he expects to discover, before he has finished his
labours.

It would seem, however, that in spite of the precautions of tlie
older artists, their private ways of working, of producing substances,
of making colours, and effecting all kinds of material changes,
oozed out and became at last public property. But even after
their publication, these methods and receipts retained, paradoxi-
cally, the name of "Secrets,"* and many collections of them ap-
peared during the last three or four hundred years. It is beyond
my power to give a complete list of these ; my purpose at
present, as I have already said, is to exhibit a few of those to
Avhicli my attention happens to have been recently dii'ected, and
of which some at least ai'e possessed of a certain amount of archajo-
logical and bibliograjjhic interest.

This set of books divides into several groups, but perfect classi-
fication of them is impossible on account of the way the themes
interweave.

I. There are collections of secrets of nature, or treatises on
natural history, general science, and cosmogony. Of this set,
Pliny's history seems to have been the model.

II. There are treatises on what was called natural magic (as
distinguished from black magic or necromancy) — that is, the pro-
duction of secret effects in optics, acoustics, magnetism, ttc, &c.,
by natural causes. This is the form which natural philosoiihy
originally took.

III. There are treatises which deal chiefly with chemical, phar-
maceutical, and medical secrets.

IV. There are treatises on life and generation : physiological
secrets.

V. There are ti-eatises on technical or art secrets, strictly so
called, and they may be arranged conveniently in two classes :
general collections containing receipts relating to a variety of arts,
and special collections containing receipts of use in one art cr
handicraft only.

I have examples of each of these classes to exhibit.
The earliest medieval treatise on the subject of the practical arts
to which I can refer at the present nioment is that of Theophilus.

* In the remarks which followed the reading of the jiaper it was pointed
out that not so long ago chemical works were known, everywhere in Scot-
land at least, as "secret works." Some are still practically such.

5

It exists in MS. in sevoi-al libravios and was first oilited wiLli
translation, introduction, and notes by Robert Hendrie, in 1847.''^
The date is not exactly known, but the work seems to have been
written in the eleventli century. It is in three books. The first
ti'eats of the materials used in painting and illuminating; the
second of the making and colouring of glass ; the third of metal
working, bell making, organ building, lapidary work, colours.
It is, therefore, a very important and interesting woi-k for tlie
history both of the sciences and practical arts. It mentions a
number of substances and the manner of making them, which
involved chemical skill, and it treats of arts, the results of which
remain to this day the admiration and tlie despair of connoisseurs.
One of the biggest, if it be not the biggest, book written in the
middle ages and printed in the fifteenth century, was the work of
a Dominican monk, called Vincent de Beauvais. t It is a vast
compilation or encyclopaedia, a mirror of human knowledge as he
called it — Speculum quachiijjlex — divided into four main parts, of
which science and art form one. Of this huge work I have never
encountered a copy, and have only seen a fragment about alchemy
reprinted in a collection of such pieces. The author was born
about 1190, and died about 1264. His labour's, like those of his
contemporaries, were chiefly devoted to pliilosophy — moral, meta-
physical, and theological — and he engaged in the conflict then
raging between the realists and nominalists, but he was able to
turn from discussions on words and definitions, to the contemi)la-
tion of external objects. The Speculum Naturale or history of
nature, is a commentary in thirty-two books, the text being the
narrative of the creation as given in Genesis. This treatise
deals less with arts than with cosmogony and natural history.

* A French translation had appeared previously in 1843, edited by Count
de I'Escalopier.

+ For information — not much — about the author, an abstract of the
bibliography of his work, and an outline of the contents of it, reference
may be made to the article " Vincent de Beauvais " by Daunou, in Ilistoire
Lltt6raire de la France, Paris, 1835, 4to, T. xviii., pp. 44'.)-519, and the
numerous authorities there (|uoted. Through some ovcrsiglit, Hain, wliilc
giving a cross reference, lias omitted Vincent's name in the right alphalicti-
cal place in his Bepertorlum B'lhlioijrapliiriim, Tlio Spccuhiiii appears to
have been printed by.Tohann Mentelin at Strasburg, and thiishcd liy 147t).
It is in 1) volumea folio: Speculum natiualo, "2; nu)ra]i'. '2; (h>itrinali'. I ;
liistoriale, 4.

6

In this respect it differs, therefore, from the writings of two of
his contemporaries, viz., Roger Bacon (1214-1202-4), and Albertus
Magnus (1193 (?)-l 280).

In his Opus Majlis, Bacon has given an encyclopedia of human
knowledge, and especially of physical science, but it is another
work of his which falls to be mentioned in this place, namely, his
" Epistoia (le secrttis operihus naturce et artis, et de nullitate
magice." This is a short rejjort on the very wonderful effects
that can be produced by natural means, and it is in this tract
that occurs the often-quoted allusion to the composition and
])ower of gunpowder. This letter was intended as a reply to the
])ersistent attacks of malignant ecclesiastics who accused him of
I)ractising " black magic " * — by showing that the ai)parent mystery
was due to the ignorance of his accusers and not to any compact of
his with the infernal powers.

Albertus Magnus is credited with a tivatise of secrets, but the
authorship has been disputed and litis been assigned to Henricus
de Saxonia, one of his pupils, but whether tliis be correct or not
the work usually, if not invariably, beai-s the name of Albertus.
It deals with physiological secrets only, and that in a very brief
manner; so that, both in i-ange and in bulk, it is quite the reverse
of an encyclopaedia. Notwithstanding, if we may judge by the
number of editions, it was one of the most popular treatises from
the 15th to the 17th century, f Albertus was the author likewise
of a treatise on the secrets of plants, animals, and stones, in which
he described tlieir occult virtues.

* The black magician, or necromancer, was believed to have carried on a
correspondence with the fiend and entered into a compact by which, on the
liberation of the latter from his "prison-house," he would assist the magi-
cian in carrying out schemes which, in their ex[)ected results, could be called
nothing else than supernatural. The correspondence, with the magician's
name at it, was usually brought up in evidence against him— very much
to his annoyance — when he had to implement his share of the bargain.

tit is entitled "Dp Secretis Mulierum," and a list of the early editions
is given by Hain (Repert. Bibliogr., Nos. 549-568). In character it closely
resembles the ^' De phmoiiomia" oi Michael the Scot, and the two tracts
were frequently pi'inted together during the 17th century. It was trans-
lated into French and German. An edition of the French, (Cologne, 1722)
entitled " Les admirnbles s/'crcts d'Alljcrt ie Grand," contains, besides the
two tracts of Albertus, a third consisting of practical receipts, and a fourth
on physiognomy.

In tliu following century flourished Bartholomew Granville, a
Cornishman, author of a ponderous work on the Properties of
Things, divided into nineteen books. As it deals chieHy
with natural history it hardly falls within consideration at
present, but it gives incidentally technical descriptions. It was
first printed in the fifteenth century, the earliest edition being of
date 1478, and it was often re-issued, besides being translated into
French, Dutch, and Spanish. It was also translated by John
Trevisa in 1398 into English, and published by Wynkyn de
Worde a century later.*

In the fifteenth century another book which had a considerable
share of poi)ularity was j)rinted. It is entitled " Lucidarius" and
was written by a monk called Honorius of Strasburg. It first
appeared in 1479, but the edition which I have here and which is
worth examination for its uncommon type and curious wood-
cuts, was printed at Strasbui-g in 1499, by Mathijs Hupfuff.
It is very rare, and though Hain mentions it (Repert. Bihliocjr.,
No. 8814), he had no actual copy for collation. He consequently
says that the book has twenty-nine leaves, whereas this copy has
thirty, the last containing a woodcut of the carrying of the cross.
This work is a sort of catechism of natural and su])eruatural
things. The questions are asked by the scholar, and the answers
are given by the master, who thus impai-ts the required instruction
in the secrets of creation.

All these works are of a general character, and, except the first,
deal with the physical and natural sciences, as these were under-
stood from the twelfth to the fifteenth century — they are examples
chieHy of the first class. That some of them were among the
books first printed in the fifteenth century and went through
several editions and translations, notwithstanding their bulk in
certain cases and their frequently absurd contents, shows that
even then there were many people anxious to know something
about nature and external objects.

The sixteenth century produced no great encyclopaidia like
some of those I have mentioned. Either the breed of encyclo-
pu;dists had become extinct, or else knowledge had grown too

•Johnson's Typoyraphia, London, 1824, I., p. 354. Tlicru is a copy of
the Latin edition printed in 1480, in the Euing Collection, Cilasgow I'ni-
versity Lil)r;iry. It is in folio, in double eolunnis, printed in line Gothic

character.

great to be gathered by one man in his lifetime and put in a book,
but we find several less ambitious authors dealing with different
kinds of secrets, some of nature, others of arts.

First among those whose works I have here comes Levinus
Lemnius, who was born at Zirickzee in Holland, in the year 1505,
and after studying at various places became a physician in
his native town. Between the years 1559-64 he published a
work entitled "D^ Miraculis Occultis Naturce, Libvi IV." Of
this book several editions appeared, of which I have here two,
Franckfurt lGO-4, and 1611, both in IGmo. It was translated into
English under the title of " I'he Secret Miracles of Nature, in
four books," London, 1658, in small folio, of which there is a
copy here. It was translated into French by the alchemist
Gohorry, and published at Paris in 1568, and it was translated
also into Italian.

It is a most heterogeneous collection, heterogeneousl}^ piled
together, of notions on physiological, physical, medical, religious,
and moral topics, with attempts to explain phenomena in nature
which subsecpient enquiry has shown do not exist at all. The
collection is a very curious one, notwithstanding, and furnishes
good instances of popular ideas about natural things current three
hundred years ago. It would be difficult to bring this collection
under any of the classes above mentioned — the only thing toler-
ably certain is that it contains hardly any practical receipts.

Contemporary with Lemnius, but ten years his junior, was
Conrad Gesner, who flourished from 1516 to 1565. One might
spend much time over the works of this really distinguished
man, who was called the German Pliny, on account of
his comi)rehensive learning. Besides his writings on animals,
l)lants, and minerals, on languages, pharnuicy, natural philosophy,
and so on, he was one of the first bibliogra])hers and book cata-
loguers, his " Bibliotheca Universalis " being the best and most
complete catalogue which appeared in the sixteenth century, and
being still a valuable book of reference.

Under the pseudonym of Evonymus Philiatros, he publislicd a
book entitled " Thesaurus de remediis secretis " — a treasury of
secret remedies. It appeared at Zurich in 1554, and in the course
of a few yeai's went through numerous editions, and was translated
into English, French, and German.

I have here examples of all these :—

9

1. Latin. — An edition in IGmo, Lyons 1555, by Baltbazur
Arnollet, and another without date, printer's name, or place, but
as the device on the title page is a tree with five frogs,* doubtless
this edition was printed by Froschover at Zui-ich. Neither of
these editions is mentioned by the bibliographers.

2. German. — The German translation appeared at Zurich iu
1555, and other editions were published in 1582, 1583, and 1608.
Of this last there is a copy here.

3. French. — Like the German, the French translation was
executed immediately after the Latin appeared. It was published
at Lyons in 1555 in 4to, again in 1557 in 8vo, and in 1559,
in 8vo, by Antoine Vincent. T have not observed any reference
to the 1559 Lyons edition. As will be seen by the copy here,
it is a very j^rettily printed book with nice woodcuts of herbs and
chemical apparatus.

4. English. — It was translated into English by Peter Morwyng,
and published by John Day, at London, in 1559. Another edi-
tion appeared in 1565, which corresponds page for i)age with the
earlier one, and ten years later, in 1575, a third edition came out.
The copy here is of the 1565 edition. It is handsomely printed
in bold black letter, and is illustrated by woodcuts of itlants and
apparatus for distillation. The main purpose indeed of the book is
to describe the way of preparing remedies from plants by that method.

In 1569, after CJesner's death, a second part of the treasure was
edited by Caspar Wolff or Wulfius. It became nearly as popular
as the previous part, and was translated into French and English.

1. Latin. It was first printed at Zurich in 1569, but I have
no copy to exhibit.

2. The French version was executed by Jean Liebaut, and
appeared under his name at Lyons in 1593, in 8vo. Thereafter
at Rouen in 1G28, and 1643, of which edition a copy is here. I
have here also another })ublished at Rouen with tlie date INIVIC,
which would appear to mean 1600, and it would therefore be nuich
earlier than the other, but against this date is the fact that it has
not the look of a book printed in IGOO. Besides it is called on
the title page Derniere Edition, so that one would suppose it to
be subsequent to those above mentioned.

* A more elaborate form of this device will be found on the title page
of Gesner's " /i//>//o//((ca," cd. Simler, 15S2, printed by Froschover. The
device is a punning one.

10

3. The second part was Englished by George Baker, surgeon
to Queen Elizabeth, and two editions of it were published, of both
of which copies are before us. The first bears date 1576 and is
entitled the '■'• Newe, Jewell of Health." It was published in London
by Henry Denman, in small ito, and printed in black letter. It
is illustrated with numerous woodcuts of apparatus and operations.
The second edition appeared in 1599 under the title of " The
Practice of the Neio and Old Phisicke." It was published at
London by Peter Short, and is also in black letter.

It will be noticed that this work in particular contains the
pharmaceutical and to some extent the chemical knowledge of the
time of Shakespeare. The copy of the first i)art which is here
was printed the year after he was born, and it is very likely that
the pictures of plants and chemical operations which it contains
would not escape his notice even while still a child. The examina-
tion of these books gives one some insight into the references which
occur in the plays to the physician's art and the works of the
ai^otliecaiy, who was not always then, or for long after, distin-
guished with suflicient accuracy from the poisoner.

Gesner's work is specially concerned with medical and jiharma-
ceutical secrets, and does not take \ip either natural history and
physical, or trade and technical seci-ets.

A work more representative of technical art than any of the
preceding was the " Pirotechnia " of Biringuccio, which was pub-
lished at Venice in 1540. It deals particularly with the extract-
ing of metals from tlieir oi-es, their fusion, casting, calcining, and
conversion into A-arious compounds, the preparation of salts, the
distilling of acids, the founding of cannon, the manufacture of
guii[)Owder and of fire works. Of the several editions which
appeared I have here the first edition of 1540, in small quarto, and
the 8vo edition of 1559, also printed at Venice.* The work Avas
translated into French and published at Paris in 1572, of which
translation there is a copy here. Copies both of the 1540 Italian
and the 1572 French editions are uncommon.

In the compilation of books of secrets the Italians in the six-
teenth century showed considerable activity, and the examples of
them that are here may be taken together in chronological order.

The earliest of them is ascribed to Don Alessio Ruscelli, a

* I have since got a cojiy of the aecond (?) edition, printed at Venice in
1550, 4to.

11

Piedmontese, whose reputed work was first printed at Basel in
153G, in 8vo. It went through a very great number of editions,
but although it was one of the most popular of the collections of
receipts or secrets, copies of it are now quite unusual in catalogues.
The editions were in all likelihood actually worn out by use. The
copy here is a comparatively early one, having been printed at
Venice in 1568. This collection was translated into English, and
the four different pai-ts appeared in succession, the first in 1562,
the last in 1578. According to Watt, who gives the titles at
length and enumerates different editions,* the secrets ai)peared in
every European language. He adds that an abridgement of it
was long a ])oj)ular book at the foreign fairs, and Nisard mentions
a book which consists of extracts from Albertus Parvus, Cornelius
Agrippa and others, but which he thinks is chiefly a rehabilitation
of the work of Alexis. f This collection, therefore, is still
publishing and selling in France by the pedlars, and flying
stationers, as they used to be called. The editions Nisard
mentions are of 1837 and 1839. It is hardly necessary to say
that however creditable the Don's compilation may have been
to the sixteenth centuiy, it gives one but a poor idea of the
progress of true physical and medical knowledge among the mass
of the people in the nineteenth, that such books can be sold for
actual perusal and reference.

A similar collection to the preceding was made by Gabriello
Falloppio, celebrated as an anatomist, who lived between 1523 and
1563. The work is entitled " Secret i Diversi," and it appeared
after his death in 1566. There is a copy of it here. It contains
receipts for preparing different bodies to be used in medicine, for
the production of wines, alcoholic extracts of plants, cosmetics and
waters. It also explains the chemical treatment of the metals,
their alloys, the way of changing their colours, converting them
into different kinds of salts and so on. There is no English
version of this, so far as I know, but there was a Latin edition,
and one in German, Franckfnrt, 1641, of which there is a copy here.

Two years later, in 1568, there appeared at Venice another

* An edition of 159."), London, Peter Short, is not mentioned by Watt.
It is in small (juarto, black letttr, and reseml)lcs the ISO!) edition of
the second part of Oesner's work. There is a copy in the Kuing t'ollection,
<ilasgow University Liljraiy.

+ Cli. Xisaid, " i/islohr ill.-: Linrt Poiii(liiirci<i,'' Paris, iyr)4, 1., \i. •_'•_'."».

12

collection of secrets. The author or compiler was Ticonardo
Fioravanti, a physician of Bologna, who died in 1588. His col-
lection is arranged very much in the same way as Fallop})io's, and
it contains not only secrets of medicine and surgery with the
necessary preparation of drugs and remedies, but receipts for
several technical purposes as well. Besides the Italian edition of
1571, Venice, 8vo, I have here the German translation of Darm-
stadt, 1624. Of this work an English translation was made by
John Hester, which was first published at London in 1582, in
16mo. It was afterwards reprinted with some other translations
by the same hand, and appeared in small quarto in 1G52. Of
this edition I possess a copy. The translation diflers in several
details from the Italian, and it embraces only the medical section
of the original.

A much better known man than any of these published a collec.
tion of curions arts at Naples in 1558. This was the Neapolitan,
Giambattista Porta, who lived between 1538 and 1G15, made
long journeys in search of natural knowledge, and formed an
Academy of tlie Secrets of Nature in his house at Rome, which
was suppressed of course.

His work is entitled " Magia Naturalis,^^ and it is divided
into twenty books, according to subjects. This is a more compre-
hensive work than some of its predecessors, but I cannot say tliat
in its contents it is much more sensible. It had its share of
popularity, however, passed through many Latin editions, and
was translated into all the languages. Besides three of the Latin
editions (Franckfurt, 1591, Leyden, 1644, and Amsterdam, 1G64),
I have here a copy of the scarce English translation of 1658, with
the still scarcer frontispiece, which contains a portrait of the
author, and a representation of the four elements, and of Art and
Nature, disposed in compartments. Among the curiosities con-
tained in the first edition of this book, 1558, is an account of the
camera obscura as it was known — without the lens — to Leonardo
da Vinci. In the 1589 edition it is described with the lens, but
there is no proof of what has been stated, that the instrument was
either invented or improved by Porta. On the Avhole, the optical
division is one of the best in the Magia Naturalis.

The last of the Italian collections I have to show is that of
Leonardo Locatelli, a physician, like most of the older naturalists.
The work is entitled " Theatro cVArcani" and it deals chieiiy

13

with chemical and alchemical changes and products. I have here
the edition of Milan, 1644, and that of Venice, 1G67. So far as I
know there was no translation published.

The preceding are almost all mixed collections, but in the six-
teenth century there appeared a series of small books, of purely
technical character, about which I have failed in getting any
information. The only thing to be done therefoi-e is to enumer-
ate and describe the books themselves, which are now before us.

The oldest is entitled " Kilnsthuchlin," and it was printed at
Augsburg in 1537.* This is a collection of receipts, pui'e and
simple, intended for practical workpeople. The topics are the
working of metals, the making of colours, the dyeing and colouring
of various objects, the calcining of the metals, and sucli like.

In 1549 there was published at Amsterdam a small volume,
entitled " Kunst Boeck," which I have not seen referred to in the
bibliographies. It is said to be compiled and in part translated —
ghecolligeert ende eensdeels geiraslateert — by Symon Andree. Tlie
translated sections are from the " Kunsthilchlin." In 1581 the
translated part of the preceding was republislunl, with a second
tract containing different receipts from those in the earlier one,
and in IGOO there appeared at Amsterdam an edition of all the
parts together in Dutch. In 1687 hnally a modernized reprint
of the "■ Kunstbiichlhi," apjieared at Franckfurt, in 12mo. These
collections represent fairly the kind of receipts for practical
purposes current in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Johann Jakob Wecker, a physician at Basle, added another
compilation to the preceding. It appeared in 1582, and several
editions were published. That which I have here was printed at
Basle so late as 1701, and is entitled " De Secretis Libri xvii."
It is arranged in a most systematic manner, and in this respect is
superior to all the others ; but one cannot give much praise to tlie
information which the book contains. An English version was
printed in folio, in 1G60.

The seventeenth century produced a large number of books of
secrets, of which tliere are one or two here.

A work somewhat similar to Wecker's, but of a more philoso-
jiliical cast, was written by Ileinrich Nollius, ami imltlishcd at

* Graesse, Trisor de lAvrcs Itarcx, Dresden, 1863, iv, p. 53, quotes this
same ])Ouk, but ;.;ivea the date, \')oS. Otiier later ediliuiis are UKiitidiml.

14

Franckfuvt in 1G19. It is entitled ^'Natunc Sanctuarium : quod est
riiysica Her met lea . . .■ methodo 2ye7-spicua et admirandorum
secretorum in Naturce ahysso latentmm jyhilosophica explicatione
decenter in U7idecim libris tractata.'" This work contains a discus-
sion on general physical ideas and principles from the standpoint
of the alchemical or hermetical philosophy then in vogue, and,
as is said on the title, deals with the hid secrets of nature rather
than of practical science and art.

Works treating more strictly of natural phenomena and practi-
cal physics were compiled by Casper Schott, a Jesuit, and Professor
at Wiirzburg. Reference may be made to two of his works.
"Physica Cariosa, sive Mirahilia Naturai et Artis Libris xii. Com-
prehensa" printed at Wiirzburg in 1667, in 4to. This treatise is
chiefly on Natural Histoiy, and contains a great many drawings,
of which those depicting different monsters, both of animals and
human beings, show the greatest amount of ingenuity and origin-
ality on the part of the artist. The boy with the elephant's head,
jmer capite elephantino ; the monstrous cock, with hoggers, and
a tail like a cow, set apparently in a metal socket ; the infans cum
2)romuscule et capitihus animalium; the vitulomonachus, or bull-
calf monk; the eqmis cute lacerd, or horse with the slashed doul^let,
and numerous others, surpass anything in the way of development
devised by x'ecent naturalists.

Ten years later, in 1677, there appeared at Bamberg, Schott's
" Magia Universcdis Naturce et Artis," in four volumes, 4to. This
is a treatise on old Natural Philosoi)hy, and of the arts thereon
depending, for instance, under acoustics the author describes
organ-building. This work is very copiously illustrated, and the
general excellence of the drawings of apparatus and experiments is
noticeable. The artist has been a much more matter of fact person
than the other.

About the same time, but without place or date, there appeared
a volume in 4to, entitled " Joco-Seriorum. JVaturce Ceidurke 4."
It bears the name of Caramuelius as the author, but in all proba-
bility this is a pseudonym, and the real author was Scbott.* It

* Some ascribe it to Athanasius Kirclier, but that may be because a tract
by him is added at the end. Internal evidence is in favour of Schott.
For example, on page 272, reference is made to " our cryptography in the
first book of part four of the Magia," aiid tliis reference corresponds with
the Bamberg edition, iv. p. 1. As to the date, the chronogram with which
the preface conchides wouhl seem to point to 1061.

15

is a collection of curious things to be effected by physical causes,
merely for the sake of amusement, and without any practical pur-
pose in view.

In English two technical books were published that had
some reputation. Gabriel Plattes' " Discovery of Suhterraneall
l^reasure, viz., of all manner of mines and mineralls, from the
(jold to the coal" appeared at London in 1G39. This, as its
name indicates, is concerned chiefly with mining and metallurgy,
but there is a section at the end devoted to the colours that can
be extracted from vegetables and the way of dyeing in fast colours.
The other ti'eatise is Sir Hugh Plat's: " llie Jewel House of Art
and Nature" London 1653. This is a very mixed collection, as i t
includes receipts and desci^iptions from all the sciences. Though
not entitled " secrets," these two tracts belong to the category.

In France a certain Mdlle. Marie Meurdrac published a little
work with the quaint title, " Compassionate and Simple Cltemisiri/
loritten for meritorious ladies." Of this there is a German trans-
lation by Johann Lange, Franckfurt, 1676. The collection consists
cliiefly of pharmaceutical and, as was to be expected, cosmetical
receipts. The subject is arranged in six books, and the last is de-
voted specially to the pi'eparation of those substances with Avhich
ladies at that time were wont to preserve their beauty.*

During the coui'se of the seventeenth century some arts had so
far advanced that treatises dealing Avith thera alone began to
ajjpear. This is notably the case with metallurgy, an art which
lias always occupied a prominent place and has a considerable
literature. Glass-making also in the seventeenth century can
boast of a special literature. The German chemist Kunckel pub-
lished a l)Ook on the subject at Franckfurt in 1679 ; a Florentine.
Antonio Ncri, another, of which I have the late 1686 Amsterdam
edition. Of this book Christopher Merrett issiied an English
translation in 1662; lastly, Blancourt wrote a treatise in French
of which an English translation was published in 1699 at London,
under the title: — " The Art of Glass. Shewing how to make all

* In books of receipts cosmetics occupy sometimes a considerable space,
but there are, besides, works specially devoted to the subject. Amongst
those I may mention an exceedingly scarce work, by .Joan Liobaut, to
whom as translator of Gcsner's ThesauruH reference has been made
above. It is entitled "Truis Livrcs de V Emhdl'isscmenl et Ornement du coi'p.t
humain." Paris, 158"2. Svo., pp. 16 — 464 — 16.

16

sorts of Glass Crystal and Enamel. . . . A work containing nunn/
Secrets and Curiosities never before discovered." *

Another special technical treatise was that of Pietro Maria
Canepario — " De Atramentis," which, though dealing professedly
with ink and black colours, is much more comprehensive than its
name denotes, as it includes the technology of pyrites, of vitriol,
of the oil of vitriol, and of different colours. I have here two
editions, the first published at Venice in 1619, and the second
at London in ICGO.

It must not be forgotten, however, that pai'allel with these
em])irical books, progress was making, though slowly, in those
sciences on which the successful and sound development of their
applications to the arts depends. In chemistry, and especially in
pharmaceutical chemistry, that is in the pre})aration of natural
substances for use in medicine, which occupies so large a place in
some of these receipt books, there was considerable advance ; and,
in addition, a very great impulse to technical and apj)lied chemis-
try was given towards the end of the seventeenth century by
Glauber and by Becher.

But, notwithstanding, the books of secrets in the eighteenth
century in many cases showed a retrogression towards credulity
and absixrdity, for this century has a broad shadow of ignorance
and superstition athwart its vaunted enlightenment. It was this
ultra-rational age which encouraged such books as the " Secrets
Merveilleux de la Mai/ie Natni'elle et Cahalistique du Petit Albert,"
and a host of similar would-be magical and cabalistical books.
They ai-e of interest only as studies in the aberration of the
human mind. But even in the works of men who ought to have
known better we encounter the most ridiculous and gross ideas.
The French chemist Lemery made a collection of receipts which
was translated into English and published at London in 1711.
Its title is " New Curiosities in Art and Nature : or a Collection
of the most valuable secrets in all Arts and. Sciences." If any one
is desirous of seeing the puerile credulity which, in the same age
and country, may run parallel with an equally contemptible

* The most recent book on the subject which I have seen is by the
French chemist Peligot. " Le Verre. Son Histoire, sa Fabr'icatlon."
Paris, 1877. 8vo. A popular work, also from the French, was published
at London in 1870, " Mai'vels of Glass-making in all ays," by A. Sanzay.
Svo.

17

scepticism let him turn to the pages of this precious compilation.
Some of the collections, however, are a little more practical and
more rational than the preceding, but in all of them there is
a conspicuous empiricism.

A few years later, in 1723, Dr. William Salmon, a great com-
piler of books, issued a work containing " Choice experiments and
observations on Building, Husbandry, Gardening, Mechanics,
Chemistry, Painting, t&c." London, 8vo. Of this I have no copy,
but I have here another similar and earlier work by the same
author. It is entitled " Polygraphice, or the Arts of Drawing,
Engraving, Etching, Limning, Painting, Varnishing, Japanning,
G'ilding, <Lx. . . . Eighth edition." London, 17()L Though pro-
fessing to deal with the arts of design it is far more comprehensive
and includes the arts of dyeing and staining, alchemy, chem-
istry, chiromancy, arts of beautifying and perfuming, and
so on.

I possess also two small treatises; one is without date but be-
longs obviously to the last century. It is entitled " Arts Treasury
of Rarities : and choice Inve^itions. . . . Theffth edition. London
. . . G. Congers. . . . Price Is." This is really a book of prac-
tical receipts, including such subjects as tlie dyeing of cloth, silk,
hair, bone, leather; gilding, lacquering; i-emoving spots of
tar, grease, oil ; preserving from moths ; cementing broken
glass, and so on. The other is entitled "La Magie des
Artistes . . . ou collettion comijlette des secrets utiles. . . .
Harlem. . . 1783." 12mo. Tliis work is similar in contents
to the preceding and both are free from the absurdities already
s[)oken of.

With the progress of the sciences and with insight into the
causes of chemical and physical change, books of secrets like tho
preceding can no longer show any reason for existence. If,
therefore, they circulate at all it is as chap books, tlie hawkers'
reprints of Aristotle, Albertus JMagnus, &c., already referred
to, which have little interest from a bibliograi)hical, and none
from a scientific point of view, or else as collections of trivial
receipts which are of no practical use. Any one wishing sound
information on a practical matter will now go to such a work as
Cooley's Cycloi)iedia of Practical licceijits, or Lire's Dictionary
of the Arts, or to some of the numerous works on ai)[)lied science
and technology in which the rationale of the processes, or at least

18

rational processes are given.''' Arts and manufactures are passing
more and more from the empirical to the scientific state, and to
appreciate the immeasurable improvement that takes place when
a manufacture is based on a rational foundation and not on mere
empiricism and what is called familiarly " rule of thumb," a com-
parison may be made, say of Canepario's account of sulphuric acid
making with the treatise by Lunge on the same subject, or the
tiny chapters on iron smelting in Agricola or Ercker, with
Lowthian-Bell's Studies of Blast Furnace Phenomena or Percy's
Treatise on Iron. ^

On another occasion I hope to communicate to the Society ex-
tracts from some of the books now exhibited, and to supplement
the list with notes on other works of a similar kind, which I have
not in the meantime at hand.

Postscript.— \ have just become aware of the existence of a
" History of Inventions," by F. S. White ; but of the book I, as yet,
know nothing.

* One still more recent is now to be had. Its title is " Spoil's Encydo-
pcedla of Industrial Arts, Manufactures, and Baio Commercial Products."
and it has just been published in London in two volumes. The author,
editor, publisher, or whoever is responsible for the advertisement of it,
makes a special merit of its containing a minunum of scientific and his-
torical details.

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