From Alchemy to Chemistry:
Five Hundred Years of Rare and Interesting Books

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rare Book Room Exhibit


MACQUER, PIERRE (1718 - 1784). Dictionnaire de chymie, contenant la théorie & pratique de cette science . . .. 2 vols. Paris, 1766.

The first dictionary of theoretical and general chemistry. Macquer published the first edition anonymously, as he had been commissioned to write it hastily and he was afraid for his reputation. Despite a few errors of omission, the Dictionnaire was an immediate success, going through two reprintings and a revised second edition. Along with Macquer's other works, it helped to spread knowledge of chemical affinity. Bound into this particular copy is a hand-written list of the 25 elements known at the time. From the presence of osmium but the absence of palladium and iridium, we can date this list to the year 1803.

DSB; Norman Library of Science, 1413.


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