Reissue of the first Latin edition of a pharmacopoeia compiled by the French apothecary Moyse Charas (1618-1698). The pharmacopoeia "begins with a hundred-page introduction to ancient (Galenic) and modern (chemical) pharmacy. The remainder of the volume was divided almost evenly between traditional and chemical preparations. ... In a long section on the elements he openly took the side of the chemists stating that the four elements were insufficient to explain observations. ... The chemical section included plates illustrating chemical equipment as well as chemical characters and symbols". (Debus)
Charas "attained European celebrity in 1668, when the plague swept France, as the first French pharmacist to prepare the famous Theriac. ... " (Hagelin). In the third part the Latin translation of this text on theriac is given, along with Charas's work on vipers.
Binding with a couple smudges and a small part of the front hinge cracked, but otherwise very good. Slightly browned and some occasional foxing throughout, a few bottom corners torn off, not affecting text. A very good copy. Krivatsy 2363; cf. Hagelin, p. 148, A.G. Debus, The French paracelsians: the chemical challenge to medical and scientific tradition in early modern France (1991), pp. 130-131.