Collection ID: 0002 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Secrets relative to arts and trades.

Authors

• Charles Rainsford Collection of Alchemical and Occult Manuscripts (University of Pennsylvania)

Other related names

• Rainsford, Charles, 1728-1809, former owner
• Northumberland, Hugh Percy, Duke of, 1742-1817, former owner (http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr93028960)

Call number

Oversize Ms. Codex 1703
(3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6206, University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts)

Alternate identifiers

• bibid: 9962935883503681
• http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/919003949
• https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p39p2w82r https://repository.upenn.edu/uniqueatpenn/23/

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania

Language

English, with several leaves laid into the manuscript in French

Origin

Date

between 1750 and 1799

Place

England?

Summary

Instructional manual with the first section discussing the transmutation of metals such as turning silver into gold (p. 7) and making iron brittle like glass (p. 28) as well as notes on perpetual motion (p. 42) and secret fire (p. 42-43). The second section includes many recipes for different types of varnish including one for tinting windows to prevent the sun from shining through them (p. 49) and one for sealing wax (p. 52). Subsequent sections include recipes for making pigments such as carmine (p. 53) and Prussian blue (p. 54, 69) and for making large pearls from small ones (p. 74). Also includes an alphabetical index (p. ii-xxvi).

Notes

• Title from title page (p. i).
   
• Ms. codex.
   

Extent

187 leaves : 233 x 190 mm bound to 240 x 205 mm +

Foliation

Paper, 187 leaves; [xxvi], 1-75, [76-348]; contemporary pagination in ink, modern pagination in pencil, upper outer corners.

Support

Paper

Binding

Contemporary parchment.

Script

Written in a cursive script in the hand of Charles Rainsford, with several leaves laid into the manuscript in a second hand.

Provenance

• Formerly owned by Charles Rainsford (British army officer, fellow of the Royal Society, and alchemist); bequeathed by Rainsford to Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland.
   
• Sold at auction at Sotheby's (London), 15 July 2014, as part of Lot 411.
   
• Owned by the 2nd through 12th Dukes of Northumberland, ms. 620, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, 1809-2014 (bookplate, inside upper cover; stamps throughout).
   

Subjects topical

• Alchemy--Early works to 1800
• Alchemy
• Pigments
• Occultism--Early works to 1800
• Occultism
• Pigments--Early works to 1800

Genres

• Codices
• Manuscripts, European
• Prescriptions
• Manuscripts, English--18th century
• Manuscripts, French--18th century
• Manuals (instructional materials)

Keywords

• 18th century
• English
• England
• Paper
• Alchemy

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Oversize Ms. Codex 1703: Secrets relative to arts and trades. are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  Metadata is ©2017 University of Pennsylvania Books & Manuscripts and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License version 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Table of contents

• 76 — Blank leaves start
• 350 — Blank leaves end