by Arthur Edward Waite (Author)
Lives of the Famous Alchemistical Philosophers from the year 850 to the close of the 18th century, together with a Study of the Principles and Practice of Alchemy, including a Bibliography of Alchemical and Hermetic Philosophy. Illustrated by a series of rare and unusual Portraits. This compact, well-researched book describes the theory and practice of Alchemy by letting the famous alchemists (over 50 of them) speak for themselves. Essays on the True Principles and Nature of the Magnum Opus, and on its Relation to Spiritual Chemistry and The Physical Theory and Practice of the Magnum Opus. Includes an Appendix, Index, and an Alphabetical Catalog of Works on Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy. The real quest of the alchemists was self-transformation, the unfolding of their own higher-self, and in the process they created the modern Scientific Method.