[MEDECINE & ALCHIMIE] VAN HELMONT - Ortus medicinae id est Initia Physicae Inaudita Progressus medicinae Novus In Morborum Ultionem ad Vitam Longam Edente Authoris Filio Francisco Mercurio Cum eius Praefatione ex Belgico Translata [Followed by] Toparchae in Royenborch, Pellines, &c, Opuscula Medica Inaudita I. De Lithiasi, II. De Febribus, III. De humoribus Galeni, IV. De Peste Lugdunum Sumptibus Joannis Baptistae Devenet 1655 (Chez Jean-Baptiste Devenet à Lyon, 1655) - A fine copy of the fourth edition of J.B. Van Helmont's works, inspired by those of Paracelsus, and given by François Mercure Van Helmont, son of the author and himself a chemist and cabbalist. Text printed on two columns. Very fine later binding in full vellum with title and author in ink on the spine. A beautifully washed copy, almost entirely free of traces of freckling. Work in two parts, each with its own title page, the first with a handsome allegorical "portal" engraved title-frontispiece, the second with a simple title page. A Flemish physician and alchemist, Van Helmont was one of the major figures who initiated the shift from alchemy to chemical science, along with Paracelsus. Caillet, 11018. In-Folio, 487pp, 192pp (30)