Using This Edition

The historical text is arranged in paired passages: a corrected German reading in smaller type, followed by its new English translation. Stable passage labels such as B1C10S011 allow the same location to be found in every format. Printed page numbers refer to the 1723 witness; “scan” identifies unnumbered preliminary material. In the printed witness, the jump from page 221 to 225 is a numbering error rather than a missing passage.

The chapter outlines, notes, keyword essays, short glossary, contextual lexicon, discussion questions and new subject index are editorial additions. The original two books, preliminary explanations, prefaces, afterword and variant readings form the translated historical work. The original mechanical contents and index are replaced with this edition’s navigation and English subject index.

One continuous passage in Book I, chapter 11, containing operational instructions for an explosive gold compound is omitted in both languages and replaced by an explicit marker. The surrounding argument is retained. This edition therefore does not claim to be unabridged. The separate English translation EPUB carries the same local omission and contains the translated historical work without the new study apparatus.

The discussion questions are numbered consecutively. Lexicon quotations link to stable passages and explain the terms within this book. The short glossary offers a quick definition; the lexicon develops the context, changing uses and limits of each term. The diagrams reproduce the historical printing, with their wording translated in the adjacent text.

Historical accounts of generation, disease and medicinal efficacy are presented as the author’s claims. The book preserves the explanatory framework of its period; its technical vocabulary is interpreted in context rather than assigned a uniform modern chemical identity.