A curious cure from the 17th century: the legendary “powder of sympathy.”

This is the third and much enlarged edition (1662) of a seminal collection of works on the powder of sympathy, a controversial remedy closely linked to magnetism and early modern medicine.

At its core is Sir Kenelm Digby’s famous Oratio de pulvere sympathetico, where he describes healing wounds not by treating the injury itself, but by applying a salve to the weapon that caused it.

According to Garrison, “The sympathetic powder, his special hobby, consisted, it is said, of nothing more than green vitriol, first dissolved in water and afterward recrystallized or calcined in the sun.”

This 1662 edition is considerably expanded with additional writings by Rudolf Goclenius, Jan Baptist van Helmont, Robert Fludd, Daniel Becker, Giovanni Borelli, Athanasius Kircher, Daniel Sennert, and others, making it one of the most comprehensive early sources on this eccentric but influential theory.

It captures the intersection of medicine, alchemy, natural philosophy, and the history of science in early modern Europe. A valuable and significant book for collectors of 17th-century medical literature, alchemical writings, and the history of medicine. A captivating addition to any library focused on occult science, early chemistry, or unconventional remedies.