Le Kitāb dā'irat al-aḥruf al-abjadiyya est un traite de magie pratique attribue a Hermes. Ce texte composite, qui ne peut etre date avec precision, est un ouvrage de magie basee sur la doctrine de la science des lettres ('ilm al-ḥurūf). Le present livre offre la premiere edition critique du texte, accompagnee d'une traduction annotee et d'une etude historique et philologique exposant les principes theoriques a la base des procedes decrits dans les recettes ainsi que des entites, objets et ingredients utilises (noms des anges invoques, types de...

A Cultural History of Chemistry in the Middle Ages covers the period from 600 to 1500 in European and Islamic cultures. Arabic theories and terminology for the science of matter were introduced into the West and became known as ‘alchemy’. Based in experiment and innovation – and bound up in networks of mining, manufacturing, trade and commerce – alchemical practice largely focused on the production of new substances through various processes. At the same time, alchemy was deeply theoretical, exploring the development of mineralogy, the perfection of corruptible matter,...