10 



3. The second part was Englished by George Baker, surgeon 

 to Queen Elizabeth, and two editions of it were published, of both 

 of which copies are before us. The first bears date 1576 and is 

 entitled the '■'• Newe, Jewell of Health." It was published in London 

 by Henry Denman, in small ito, and printed in black letter. It 

 is illustrated with numerous woodcuts of apparatus and operations. 

 The second edition appeared in 1599 under the title of " The 

 Practice of the Neio and Old Phisicke." It was published at 

 London by Peter Short, and is also in black letter. 



It will be noticed that this work in particular contains the 

 pharmaceutical and to some extent the chemical knowledge of the 

 time of Shakespeare. The copy of the first i)art which is here 

 was printed the year after he was born, and it is very likely that 

 the pictures of plants and chemical operations which it contains 

 would not escape his notice even while still a child. The examina- 

 tion of these books gives one some insight into the references which 

 occur in the plays to the physician's art and the works of the 

 ai^otliecaiy, who was not always then, or for long after, distin- 

 guished with suflicient accuracy from the poisoner. 



Gesner's work is specially concerned with medical and jiharma- 

 ceutical secrets, and does not take \ip either natural history and 

 physical, or trade and technical seci-ets. 



A work more representative of technical art than any of the 

 preceding was the " Pirotechnia " of Biringuccio, which was pub- 

 lished at Venice in 1540. It deals particularly with the extract- 

 ing of metals from tlieir oi-es, their fusion, casting, calcining, and 

 conversion into A-arious compounds, the preparation of salts, the 

 distilling of acids, the founding of cannon, the manufacture of 

 guii[)Owder and of fire works. Of the several editions which 

 appeared I have here the first edition of 1540, in small quarto, and 

 the 8vo edition of 1559, also printed at Venice.* The work Avas 

 translated into French and published at Paris in 1572, of which 

 translation there is a copy here. Copies both of the 1540 Italian 

 and the 1572 French editions are uncommon. 



In the compilation of books of secrets the Italians in the six- 

 teenth century showed considerable activity, and the examples of 

 them that are here may be taken together in chronological order. 



The earliest of them is ascribed to Don Alessio Ruscelli, a 



* I have since got a cojiy of the aecond (?) edition, printed at Venice in 

 1550, 4to. 



