Theatrum Chemicum

Theatrum Chemicum ("Chemical Theatre") is a compendium of early alchemical writings published in six volumes over the course of six decades.

Theatrum Chemicum remains the most comprehensive collective work on the subject of alchemy ever published in the Western world.

[1][2][3] The full title of the work is Theatrum Chemicum, præcipuos selectorum auctorum tractatus de Chemiæ et Lapidis Philosophici Antiquitate, veritate, jure præstantia, et operationibus continens in gratiam veræ Chemiæ et Medicinæ Chemicæ Studiosorum (ut qui uberrimam unde optimorum remediorum messem facere poterunt) congestum et in quatuor partes seu volumina digestum,[* 1] though later volumes express slightly modified titles.

[4] The volumes are in actuality a collection of previously published and unpublished alchemical treatises, essays, poems, notes, and writings from various sources, some of which are attributed to known writers and others remain anonymous.

[1] A more directly related ancestor of Theatrum Chemicum was a publication by Johannes Petreius entitled "De Alchemia", a work which contained ten alchemical tracts, which was published in Nuremberg in 1541.

Upon Petreius's death his collection came into the possession of his relative, Heinrich Petri of Basel who published it in cooperation with Pietro Perna and Guglielmo Gratarolo in 1561.

By this time the collection had accrued a total of 53 texts and was published under the name, Verae alchemiae artisque metallicae, citra aenigmata, doctrina.

[4] The material is diverse, being intended as a single body of work containing all significant alchemical texts of its time.

Though the Theatrum Chemicum is a book about alchemy, by its contemporary standards it represented a body of work that, in a modern context, is similar to texts such as The Handbook of Chemistry & Physics, The Physicians' Desk Reference, or other specialized texts for the practice and study of the sciences and philosophy, including medicine.

Considering the esoteric nature of the subject matter, this was not uncommon at the time of Theatrum Chemicum's publication, but it does seem clear that Zetzner established the authorship of the various tracts according to his original source material.

The reprinted editions are almost identical, though there are differences in details, such as page number, formatting, and minor rewording not affecting content.