Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

The emerald table (Tabula smaragdina) / Hermes Trismegistus -- From the Timaeus / Plato -- From the Meteorology / Aristotle -- From the Treatise of Democritus on things natural and mystical / Pseudo-Democritus -- Dialogue of Cleopatra and the philosophers / Anonymous -- From Leyden Papyrus X and the Stockholm Papyrus / Anonymous -- Of virtue, lessons 1-3 / Zosimos of Panopolis -- From the great and sacred art of the making of gold / Stephanos of Alexandria -- The poem of the philosopher Theophrastos upon the sacred art / Anonymous -- From Secreta Alchymiæ / Khalid Ibn Yazid -- From Of the investigation or search of perfection; Of the sum of perfection; and His book of furnaces / Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Pseudo-Geber -- De congelatione et conglutinatione lapidum / Avicenna -- From the Libellus de alchimia / Albertus Magnus -- From the Radix mundi / Roger Bacon -- From his Exposition of the hieroglyphical figures / Nicloas Flamel -- A treatise of the philosopher's stone / Bernard, Earl of Trevisan -- The epistle of George Ripley written to King Edward IV / George Ripley -- From Of the nature of things and Paracelsus his aurora / Paracelsus -- Aurum-potabile: or the receit of Dr. Fr. Antonie / Francis Anthony -- From A new light of alchymie and A dialogue between Mercury, the alchymist and nature / Michael Sendivogius -- From the Mosaicall philosophy / Robert Fludd -- A Caveat for alchymists / Gabriel Plattes -- Preface to The divine pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus in XVII books / John French -- The admirable efficacy, and almost incretible virtue of true oyl; from An exposition upon Sir George Ripley's epistle to King Edward IV / George Starkey, Eirenaeus Philalethes -- From the "Prolegomena" to the Theatrum chemicum Britannicum / Elias Ashmole -- From An historical account of a degradation of gold made by an anti-elixir: a strange chymical narative / Robert Boyle -- The key (Kenynes MS 18); The commentary on the emerald tablet (Keynes MS 28) / Sir Isaac Newton.

The Alchemy Reader is a collection of primary source readings on alchemy and hermeticism, which offers readers an informed introduction and background to a complex field through the works of important ancient, medieval and early modern alchemical authors. Including selections from the legendary Hermes Trimegistus to Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton, the book illustrates basic definitions, conceptions, and varied interests and emphases; and it also illustrates the highly interdisciplinary character of alchemical thought and its links with science and medicine, philosophical and religious currents, the visual arts and iconography and, especially, literary discourse. Like the notable anthologies of alchemical writings published in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it seeks to counter the problem of an acute lack of reliable primary texts and to provide a convenient and accessible point of entry to the field.