A Treatise on Chemistry

The manuscript is in the same handwriting throughout, and is written in Italian in beautiful calligraphy on both sides of the page. The work has no title, and there is no indication of the writer's identity, but the manuscript appears to be a seventeenth century copy of an earlier work. The text has been collated with another copy and variants added in the margin by another hand, with occasional notes, in English, e.g., "my other coppy saith" etc.

On folios 2-3 (numbered pages 6-8) is a table of contents of parts 1 and 2 of the work, and it is continued for part 3 at the end (fo. 69-70, pp. 129-131).

The contents are as follows:- A treatise on chemistry in three parts, each part divided into chapters, and each chapter followed by a commentary. The author takes a highly metaphysical or alchemistic view of chemical phenomena and the nature of matter. In the colophon at the end, which terminates with the words LAVS DEO, reference is made to Ripley, a well known 15th century alchemist and to Raymondo, i.e. Raymond Lully, whose works were first translated into Latin in 1420, and were popularized by Ripley. The colophon is addressed by the writer to his patron (called "My Lord," but not named) and expresses the hope of writing a further treatise touching Ripley and Lully when the writer comes to Florence.