Beschrijving
Amsterdam/Leeuwarden, Jan ten Hoorn/Pieter Ruirds, 1709, 8vo., full parchment binding with blind tooled decoration on front and back, [4]+320+112 pp. The book has been poorly rebound with old parchment, modern cardboard and leather on the inside of the spine. As a result the book is diffucult to open properly. Also some tape has been used near the end of the book and there are some stains. Compared to the STCN description, this copy is incomplete. The last signature in this copy is Gg, in the STCN description the last signature is Oo. With engraved titlepage, woodcut printer's mark on titlepage and some decorative initials and endpieces.
Interesting book on herbal remedies and magnetic influences. It brings together Digbys Choice Receipts and his Powder of Sympathy, excerpts by N. Papinius and a major work by Athanasius Kircher on magnetic forces and the influence of the moon, sun and planets on the earth. The Powder of Sympathy was a form of sympathetic magic popular in 17th Century Europe, whereby a remedy was applied to the weapon that had caused a wound in the hope of healing the injury it had made. The method was first proposed by Rudolf Goclenius, Jr. and was later expanded upon by Sir Kenelm Digby in the present work. Digbys publication went through at least 29 editions in French, English, Latin, Dutch and German.
From the collection of Jelle Kaspersma and Alie Vinke (20 Maart 2009, with a note in Frisian about having rebound the book: ‘Folslein op'en nij yn'e bân set’)
