The Alchemist's Handbook has long been considered a modern-day classic on the actual practice of alchemy since its first publication in 1960. The book still stands as a groundbreaking work presenting in clear, concise language a practical manual of working knowledge that was formerly handed down only under oath of secrecy.
The scope of alchemical work is to provide both a means to synthesize all the other sciences and the necessary training of the intellectual and spiritual faculties. “Hermetic philosophy, with its practical arcanum,” writes Frater Albertus, “repeats itself over and over again in the ancient axiom ‘As above, so below. As below, so above.’"
The Alchemist's Handbook discusses in detail:
- The basic fundamental principles of alchemy.
- A guide to the formation of an inexpensive home laboratory with illustrations of the necessary equipment.
- Step-by-step instructions for the work of the Lesser Circulation, the alchemical transformation within the plant kingdom.
First published by Weiser Books in 1974, this new Weiser Classics edition includes a new foreword by Robert Allen Bartlett, author of Real Alchemy.