[ Alchemy ] LULLII, Raymundi ( Raimundus Lullus / Ramon Llull ); Giordano Bruno & Cornelius Agrippa; with a separate work by Johannis Henrici Alstedi ( Johann Heinrich Alsted ).

Raymundi Lullii opera ea quae ad adinventam ab ipso artem universalem scientiarum artiumque omnium brevi compendio firmaq; memoria apprehendendarum, locupletissimaque vel oratione ex tempore pertractandarum pertinent: ut et in eandem quorundam interpretum scripti commentarii, quae omnia sequens indicabit pagina, & hoc demum tempore coniunctim emendatiora locupletioraq non nihil edita sunt: accessit huic editioni Valerii de Valerijs patricij Veneti aureum in artem Lulli generalem opus: adiuncto indice cum capitum, tùm rerum ac verborum locupletissimo. [ BOUND WITH ] Clavis artis Lullianae et verae logices duos in libellos tributa id est solida dilucitatio artis magnae, generalis et ultimae, quam Raymundus Lullius invenit [ 2 Volumes in 1 ].

Argentorati (i.e Strasbourg): Lazari Zetzneri, 1617 & 1633. Lull - 3rd Edition, Alsted 2nd Edition. Hardcover. (2 volumes in 1). Octavo. (7 3/8 x 5 inches). Contemporary or near-contemporary stiff vellum, with title "Raymundi Lullii / Opera / 1617" neatly hand-lettered on spine. Lullius "Opera": [16], 1109, [40 +i: colophon & emblem & ii blank]. Signatures: [star]? A-4C? (4C8 blank). 3 folding diagrams; numerous woodcut diagrams in text. Woodcut printer's device of Lazarus Zetzner (1551-1616) displaying Athena in a helmet and the motto "Scientia Immutabilis" ("Immutable Knowledge") on title page & colophon. The third edition of the Strasbourg collection of the major works together with three treatises by Giordano Bruno and one by Agrippa von Nettesheim. Following a Preface the book is divided into two sections: the works of Lull: I. Ars Brevis; II. De Auditu Kabbalistico seu Kabbala; III. Duodecim principia Philosophiae Lullianae; IV. Dialectica seu Logica; V. Rethorica; VI. Ars Magna, then the treatises by the interpreters of Lull's philosophy: VII. Iordanus Brunus de Lulliano specierum scrutinio (Bruno); VIII. Idem de lampada combinatoria Lulliana (Bruno); IX. Idem de progressu & lampade venatioria Logicarum (Bruno) ; X Commentaria Agrippae in Artem Breuem Lullian (Agrippa); XI. Articuli fidei (Lull), XII. Valerii de Valeriis tam in arborem scientiarum quam artem generalem opus aureum. Duveen: 372; & Ferguson II, 49. One auction listing mentions a copy that has two vovelles, and a bookseller's description of a copy of the fourth edition (1651) describes it as having "plates showing woodcut discs, intended to be cut out and mounted over the woodcuts in the text." We do not know whether or not some copies of (third) edition came with the two additional plates, but neither Duveen or Ferguson reference them, and they do not appear in any of the three institutionally held copies of the third edition that we have inspected, nor are they found in the volume described here. Alsted "Clavis artis Lullianae," [viii] 182pp [ii], Signatures A-M8. Woodcuts in text. The "Clavis" (a "key" or exploration of Lullian philosophy) was first published in 1609, this is its second edition. It was written by Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588 -1638), an encyclopaedist, theologian, and scholar, who had a great interest in Ramism and Lullism. Alsted had worked with Lazarus Zetzner on the compilation of Llull's "Opera", and that work, and Alsted's "Clavis" - both published by Zetzner - are often found bound together, as here. Condition: the binding has some superficial cracks and an old repair to the spine, and a small split in the top of the upper hinge, but remains firm and solid, with a pleasing "antique" appearance. Later endpapers with remains of bookplate on front free endpaper. The "Opera" has an old Arabic stamp and an inked numeral to the title-page, and has small circular stamps (slightly smaller than a finger-nail) to p. 3 and the versos of the 3 folding tables. Short marginal tear to N1 just going into text, a couple of other minor tears to margins, variable but generally modest greying, mostly confined to the text panels (as typical of works of this vintage). The Alsted is heavily browned/greyed, with several match-head size holes in G1 and H1, a few small marginal chips and tears, a small circular ink-stamp to p. 182, and some chips and tears to the final leaf (not affecting the text or diagrams). Overall a solid, pleasing copy of this important work, in attractive contemporary or near-contemporary vellum binding. Item #67354

Price: $2,950.00