Archéologie et Histoire de Sciences

Amsterdam: Philo Press, 1968. Reprint. Hardcover. Very Good. Reprint. Hardcover. Marcellin Berthelot (sometimes spelled Marcelin), born on October 25, 1827 in Paris where he died on March 18, 1907, is a French chemist, physical chemist, biologist, epistemologist and politician. The fundamental conception that underlay all Berthelot's chemical work was that all chemical phenomena depend on the action of physical forces which can be determined and measured. When he began his active career it was generally believed that, although some instances of the synthetic production of organic substances had been observed, on the whole organic chemistry remained an analytical science and could not become a constructive one, because the formation of the substances with which it deals required the intervention of vital activity in some shape. He made significant contributions to the field through his translations and analyses of Greek, Syriac, and Arabic treatises on chemistry and alchemy. His research into these historical Arabic texts allowed him to distinguish between different traditions of practical and theoretical alchemy and provided deeper insights into the origins and development of chemistry.
From the personal library collection of Brian Cotnoir, alchemist, artist and award-winning filmmaker. Author of Practical Alchemy: Guide to the Great Work, The Emerald Tablet, a series of Alchemical ‘Zines, Alchemical Meditations, Alchemy: The Poetry of Matter and most recently On Alchemy: Essential Practices and Making Art as Alchemy. He has presented seminars and workshops around the world on various aspects of the alchemy.
Khepri Press was started in 2014 as a place to organize and distribute his work. It is a very small press dedicated to alchemical book arts. Some of this work is publishable and others may exist only in manuscript or object form – alchemical results or talismans. Light shelfwear, else tight, bright, and unmarred. 8vo. 377pp. Gray cloth. Text in French translation and Greek, Arabic. Tabbed by former owner. Former owner library stamp.