Wholesale Chemist and Druggist's Formula Book, 19th century

Formula book of an unidentified manufacturing chemist and druggist, apparently from the southern area of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the area that became the independent kingdom of Belgium in 1830). Although only the earliest entries are dated the entire contents appear to be of similar date and mainly in a single hand. The chief compiler seems to have been bilingual.

Contents

1. ff. 1-4 copies of orders for various supplies, including American cotton, from other firms, 1822-1827

2. ff. 5-75 recipes for pharmaceutical, culinary, household and other products, in alphabetical order of product name (with a gap between ff. 54 and 58r which has been used for a memorandum on currency exchange)

3. ff. 76-82 section on fireworks (in Dutch)

4. ff. 83v-85r various remedies

5. ff. 85v-113r mathematical problems of commercial relevance (written from the rear of the volume)

early 19th century

1 volume 1 volume: 315 x 190 mm. 115 ff. (82v-83r and 115 blank). Vellum-covered boards. 14 loose enclosures, mainly additional recipes.

Purchased from John Langton, Christchurch, via eBay, November 2010.

Although most of the recipes in this compilation are for pharmaceutical products the firm evidently dealt in a range of goods, from textiles to foodstuffs and cosmetics. Two of the companies named in the early section, Bossaert frères and Poelman & Fervack, were textile manufacturers in Ghent, which might imply that the compilers of the manuscript were located in the same part of Flanders.

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