Splendor Solis (an alchemical treatise)

by Didron, Adolphe Napoléon, 1806-1867; Millington, Ellen J; Stokes, Margaret, 1832-1900

Germany, 1582

 

Provenance:

Charles II, king of England (b. 1630, d. 1685): a manuscript similar to the Harley 3469 was seen by John Evelyn in the Whitehall Palace library, according to his diary entry for 2 September 1680, being described by him as follows: "There is also the Processe of the Philosoph[e]rs greate Elixir, represented in divers pieces of incomparable miniature; but the Discourse is in high-Dut[c]h & a MSS' (see Wright (1972), p. 102).
Johann Cyprianus (b. 1642, d. 1723), German theologian: inscribed with his name (f. 3* ).
Mrs Priemer, niece of Johann Cyprianus: inscribed with her name by Edward Harley (f. 3*).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts. 
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

 

Full Manuscript here.