Pharmacopée royale galenique et chymique.

4to: [6]-884-[50] pp.; 7 pl. (sides of first lvs sl. frayed, some soiling on lower left corner first pl.).

Later half calf, green marbled paper, gilt orn. flat spine, green leather title label. Good copy.

Later edition (first 1676) by the French apothecary in France during the reign of Louis XIV Moyse Charas (1619-1698), who became famous for publishing compendiums of medication formulas, which played a vital role in the development of modern pharmacy and chemistry. His "Pharmacopée royale", was an example of this, containing one of the earliest comprehensive classifications of chemical elements and compounds which can be regarded as the precursor of chemical symbols and the periodic table. His table contains nine elements (lead, tin, iron, gold, copper, quicksilver, sulfur and arsenic - he listed sulfur and arsenic under minerals of chemical compound) and assigned symbols to the seven metals corresponding to the known celestial bodies at the time: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. Using these chemical symbols he tried to predict the chemical properties of chemical compounds. Ill. with an engr. title and 6 full-page engr. pl. showing among others a double pelican (KK) and alembics.
Ref. Wellcome I:327. - Cp. Krivatsy 2371. - Greenberg, Arthur, From alchemy to chemistry in picture and story, pp. 12-13. - Not in BnF.
Prov. Carolus Franciscus De Bausthy pour Jacques [...] à Chovigny (dedicatory copy).