Alchemy presented as Death and Rebirth of a King

Salomon Trismosinus, Aurei velleris oder der guldin Schatz und Kunstkammer Tractatus quintus. Hamburg: Christian Liebezeit, 1708. 4to.

The oldest version of the Splendor solis is a beautifully illuminated manuscript dated 1532-1535 (kept in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin). These illuminations were copied in the printed version(s): they depict the symbolic process of the death and rebirth of the king, and incorporate a series of seven flasks, each associated with one of the planets. They refer to the different stages in the alchemical process. Later edition of the same text; the woodcuts are replaced by copper engravings.