Description de l’aimant, qui s’est formé à la pointe du Clocher neuf de N. Dame de Chartres

Paris, 1692. Engraved headpiece and engraved vignette. Contemporary mottled calf (hinges repaired), spine and label gilt, edges sprinkled red. Ownership inscription “Marelle fils ainé.” In excellent condition. First edition of this important and occult-leaning treatise on magnetism. In October 1690, a powerful storm damaged the cross-topped steeple of the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Chartres such that it had to be demolished and rebuilt. When it was taken down, the iron cross was observed to be coated in rust, making it a strong magnet that attracted the lightning of the storm, essentially conducting Franklin’s kite and key experiment 60 years earlier.
This phenomenon sparked (pun intended) Vallemont’s interest in magnets and their properties; this book focuses on the Chartres incident but also what it means in magnetic theory. He describes the magnetic field of the earth, compass technology, magnetic fluid under a microscope, and experiments in attempting to magnetize objects. Towards the end of the text, he applies magnetic theory to occult practice: using magnets to transmute metals, perform necromancy, and find the Philosopher’s Stone.
Mottelay, Bibliographical History of Electricity and Magnetism 144; Wheeler Gift 205.