Lot 213: MAIER, MICHAEL.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Chymisches cabinet derer grossen Geheimnussen der Natur durch wohl ersonnene sinnreiche Kupfferstiche und Emblemata. Frankfurt: Georg Heinrich Oehrling, 1708

4to (197 x 158mm.), woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, 50 engraved illustrations, later half calf with patterned paper boards, occasional browning

Caillet 6991

Mannington Hall, bookplate

Maier was a famous alchemist and, along with Robert Fludd, one of the most prominent Rosicrucians. This work, a translation of Secretioris naturae secretorum scrutinium chymicum (Frankfurt, 1687), originally called Atalanta fugiens (Oppenheim: De Bry, 1618; Mellon 76), is a compilation of emblems with philosophical commentaries. The illustrations are by either Matthieu Merian or Johann Theodor de Bry, and are identical to those in Atalanta fugiens.