Amid the smoke of the apothecary's furnace and the quiet of the cloister, an old master of the art composes what he calls a triumph: a book that praises a strange gray mineral, antimony, as a gift of God and a medicine for body and soul. Written under the name Basil Valentine, a legendary Benedictine monk, this alchemical classic has fascinated readers for four centuries. This new edition renders the work into clear, present-day English while preserving the voice, order, and spirit of the original: its defense of the mineral, its careful preparations of glass, regulus, and tincture, its counsel on healing, and the devout frame that gives the whole its meaning. A short introduction, glossary, reading guide, and selected passages help today's reader enter the text with understanding. This is a faithful modern-English edition of the classic, not a paraphrase. Part of The World Scriptures Library.