The London-Distiller : exactly and truly shewing the way (in words at length, and not in mysterious characters and figures) to draw all sorts of spirits and strong-waters : to which is added their vertues, with additions of many excellent waters. . First edition.
London : Printed by E. Cotes for Thomas Williams ..., 1667. Small 4to,13 x 18cm. Old boards with modern goatskin spine and endpapers. 43, [3]pp. Woodcuts in the text.................................................. OCLC Number / Unique Identifier:
45416890:
Errors in pagination: no. 41 misprinted 44; no. 44 not printed
Head-pieces; initials
"A catalogue of the materials and ingredients used in the precedent rules": pages 41-43
Includes index.................... Very rare...
WashU: John French (c.1616-1657) was born in Broughton, England and earned his BA from Oxford in 1637. After earning his MA in 1640, he served as a physician in the parliamentary army of Sir Thomas Fairfax during the English Civil War. He was later employed at the Savoy Hospital in London. In 1648 he received an MD from Oxford, and he was also examined for admission into the College of Physicians, although it is uncertain if he was ever a member......
French had a strong interest in the increasingly prominent field of medical chemistry, and was an admirer of the work of Paracelsus and Jean Baptiste van Helmont. He saw himself as something of a medical reformer. In the introduction to the Art of Distillation he said that, “that empty natural philosophy which is read in the Universities, is scarce the meanest hand-maid to this Queen of Arts;” the “Queen of Arts” meaning chemistry/alchemy......
His book on distillation includes fairly conventional recipes for treatments such as rose water and sage water, but instructions for making distillations using what modern audiences would consider unconventional ingredients, such as dung, milk, and even human brains, are also present......
Expertise by Michel Convert 64 270 Salies de Béarn, Nouvelle Aquitaine, Fance, contact@michelconvert-expertise.fr. Item #16-6023
Price: $2,750.00