THE HERMETICAL TRIUMPH: OR, THE VICTORIOUS PHILOSOPHICAL STONE

London: P. Hanet, 1723. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. 155 x 99 mm. (6 1/8 x 3 7/8"). xxvi, [2], 147, [1], 39, [1] pp.Translated from the French edition of 1699.
Contemporary calf, covers with double gilt rule, raised bands. In a custom drop-back box. With engraved allegorical frontispiece. Front pastedown with large engraved Masonic bookplate, front free endpaper with ink stamped emblem of a 33rd degree Mason and ink ownership stamp of John Glas Sandeman (see below). Greenberg, "From Alchemy to Chemistry in Picture and Story," pp. 189-91; Pritchard 451.1; Duveen, 361; Ferguson I, 394; ESTC T119227. See also Ferguson II, 486. Leather on spine crackled and flaking and with label missing or at least hard to read, joints and extremities somewhat rubbed, boards rather chafed, so the binding not pretty, but entirely original and absolutely sound. Isolated small spots or marginal smudges, but A FINE COPY INTERNALLY, the text especially clean and unusually fresh.

From the library of a 33rd degree Mason, this is a pleasing, fully contemporary, and extremely rare copy of an important text that demonstrates the place of alchemy in the history of science. Beginning with a striking frontispiece rich in esoteric symbolism, the text here is a typically obscure alchemical allegory structured as a discourse between Gold and Mercury, personified as knights and the Philosopher's Stone. The text was first published as "Uralter Ritter-Krieg" ("Battle of the Ancient Knights") in Leipzig in 1604, added to an edition of "Triumphwagen Antimonii" by the legendary alchemist-monk Basil Valentine. It was later translated into Latin and French; the present first English edition includes a translation of the French version as well as a translation from the original German. The authorship has traditionally been attributed to French alchemist and diplomat Alexandre-Toussaint de Limojon de Saint-Disdier (1630-89), who apparently edited the 1689 French edition, though Ferguson disputes this. While its original authorship may be uncertain, Greenberg writes that our English edition is "the definitive text" of a work that demonstrates a shift in alchemical thinking: "while the amusing aspect of this book is its use of allegory, the most fascinating aspect is the manner in which solid scientific reasoning, based upon experimentation, is employed to discredit some fundamental tenets of alchemical lore. While the 'magistery' of alchemy wins the day ('The Hermetical Triumph'), early stirrings of the Scientific Revolution are quite audible." Our copy has a notable--and esoteric--provenance. The named former owner is English antiquarian John Glas Sandeman (1836-1921), who served as Captain in the 1st Royal Dragoons in the Crimean War. He published archaeological tracts and built a notable collection specializing in Greek and Roman coins. The present copy also has an inkstamp and bookplate indicating it was the property of a 33rd degree Mason, the highest degree in Scottish Rite Masonry. Whether this was Sandeman or someone else is unclear, but evidently it was a person with an interest in the sort of occult tradition discussed in the text: the symbols on the bookplate bear a definite resemblance to those in the frontispiece. "The Hermetical Triumph" is very rare: besides ours, we were able to trace just one copy since 1964 in RBH (selling in 2024 for $7,440)..