London, Printed by Richard Coats, for Tho: Williams, at the Signe of the Bible in Little-Britain. 1651. First Edition in English
Small 4to, A-Z, Aa-Zz, Aaa-Ooo4, five parts in one volume, each with a separate title-page, separate t-ps also to “Tincture of Gold” and “Mineral Work” dated 1652, 3 full-page woodcut illustrations of chemical apparatus and furnaces and 13 woodcuts in the text, Qq1 blank is present, mended tear in margin of Gg4, mild browning throughout, old half calf over marbled boards, worn, stoutly rebacked. Armorial bookplate of “Harold Marshall” on front pastedown, and that of “Dr & Mrs H.R.Kohl” on front fly.
Johann Rudolf Glauber was a German-Dutch alchemist and chemist. Some historians of science have described him as one of the first chemical engineers. His discovery of sodium sulfate in 1625 led to the compound being named after him: "Glauber's salt".
He made his living in the wine industry for a time, and later, in his Dess Teutschlands-Wohlfahrt (1656-1661), he advocated the export of wine and beer, giving recipes for concentrates that are stable and easily exported. This is only one in series of improvements in cottage industries that Glauber thought would improve German trade and aid in the recovery from the Thirty-Years War.
He also wrote a tract in the interest of the Dutch East India Company called "Trost der Seefahrenden oder Consolatio Navigantium" which contains methods for concentrating and preserving rations, medicines against scurvy, and preparation of fresh from salt water.
He did experiments growing crops with artificial fertilizer (tartar chemically derived from wine) in soil brought from the most infertile part of the beach, and he had several experimental plots at his laboratory in Amsterdam where he studied the effects on crops of various treatments.
Wing G846 ESTC R202215 [Duveen p.252 , Ferguson 1, 323]