The Perfection of the Work
The Perfection of the Work (detail), Johann Michael Faust, 1706 The Perfection of the Work, Johann Michael Faust, 1706 The Perfection of the Work (detail), Johann Michael Faust, 1706 The Perfection of the Work
Hand-colored engraving with gilding in Johann Michael Faust, Compendium alchymist[ae] novum sive Pandora . . . (Frankfurt, 1706), plate T
1385-531

The New Alchemists' Compendium likens the power of chemical science to Pandora's box in Greek myth, which let evil into the world when it was opened. In the view of the author, alchemical knowledge is double-edged: powerful, but dangerous in the wrong hands.

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The Art of Alchemy