Archives and Rare Books

Leonhard Thurneisser and the Secrets of Alchemy

There are plenty of treasures scattered throughout our rare book holdings, but we’re currently enamored with Leonhard Thurneisser zum Thurm’s Quinta Essentia, a wonderfully illustrated alchemical poem that’s a definite highlight of the Robert E. Schlueter Paracelsus Collection. Like Paracelsus himself, Thurnheisser led an itinerant life. Born in 1531 in Basel, he learned the craft  [Read more]