Alchemy & Mysticism (Hermetic Museum)

I can’t get over how beautiful this book is. I was intrigued by medieval art and learning about the hermetic principles. Not only is this book have great illustrations, but it has a clean appearance, and easy to read text. Easily my new favorite reference. Easy to hold and manage as well. You could take this book with you to a coffee shop easily if you wanted and be amused by all of the details!

Incredible book, perfect for lovers of esoteric art and those wanting visual aids for contemplation. Be aware of the dimensions, it was a bit smaller than I expected, but there are advantages to having a more compact book (for example you could comfortably peruse it in a coffee shop or on a flight)

I wish this was offered in a bigger size for my older eyes. That's my only complaint. If you have eye problems, the type will be a tad too little for you. Beautiful book with numerous pictures with a plethora of information.

If you're looking for a book that goes deep into the practical study of alchemy then this isn't the book you want. If you're looking into symbolism and the roots to common archetypes then this will likely be of more use to you. It's true that most of the images seem disconnected from the text related to them, but again I think this book was meant to be more of a surface-level reference book, using these examples and various interpretations of them to give varying but connected viewpoints on motifs such as the elements, the serpent, the wheel, and so on, rather than be a primer on alchemy. So while I understand confusion from the misleading title and descriptions, it's not an utterly useless book like some people claim if you plan on using it to find new sources, themes, and ideas. Granted if you want something more in-depth or a book on the practical application of alchemy, I would say to look for a different book. At the very least, I'd recommend it as an art book (it's relatively cheap compared to other art compendiums, too) that can pad out a coffee table, even if you only open it for the images.

I don't practice alchemy. I bought this book because it sounded really interesting and I wanted something that brings a lot of principles of alchemy into one source book instead of various google searches. This book has within it's title "The Hermetic Museum," and I feel that's pretty appropriate because it certainly feels that way. There's a lot of pictures with only shallow tidbits of information, kind of like what you'd see in those small cards at the bottom of a painting in a museum. I do like that there's a lot of art which does pass on a fair amount of information itself. I feel that as a general reference book this book introduces you to a lot of the concepts of alchemy, but it does not explore those concepts in depth. This book fills space with pictures rather than words. And then about 80% of the text just explains what's being depicted rather than what that depiction actually means. In some ways it's frustrating. As someone who knows nothing about alchemy I mistakenly thought the green lion (green vitriol) and the gray wolf (antimony) were the same thing because this book presents them in a similar fashion. In the artwork the green lion and the gray wolf are depicted as eating things and the book just basically states they're chemicals that are known to devour substances. It took a google search for me to realize they were two separate things. In my defense, artwork about alchemy uses a wide range of symbolism and alchemy uses confusing code names (for example: quicksilver vs. alchemical quicksilver.) All in all, I do think this is a good book, but have the internet handy if you want to explore the alchemic principles in depth.

Fantastic book, a must read.

An excellent Taschen book; informative and chock full of illustrations. Highly recommended.

Book came in perfect condition! Package was securely shipped and arrived sealed in perfect condition. Shipping was also really fast my book arrived in 2 days. 5/5 I would recommend!

A must have book for alchemy lovers.

Done to the perfection. Stunning works of art.

Je me suis régalée à feuilleter les pages de ce livre. Attention, il faut avoir un assez bon niveau en anglais pour le lire (dans le cas contraire, un traducteur auto fera l'affaire mais à vos risques et périls). Je ne suis pas complètement profane niveau connaissances en ésotérisme mais je ne cesse d'apprendre de nouvelles choses fascinantes à travers ce livre. Et qu'est ce qu'il est beau ! Les illustrations sont captivantes ! L'état du livre est impeccable, les pages sont d'un blanc immaculé. Il est arrivé correctement emballé sous papier blister. Je n'achète d'habitude jamais des livres neufs donc je ne sais pas si c'est habituel en tout cas ça suffit à m'impressionner. J'ai dû contacter le vendeur pour obtenir une information avant la livraison et ils ont été très réactifs pour me répondre.

Prachtig boek, fijn formaat, heel heel veel illustraties, hier ga ik uren lees plezier van hebben!

Muy bonito libro, vale por completo el precio, viene totalmente en inglés, sin embargo es fácil de comprender y las imágenes son muy bonitas, es muy completo para entender la alquimia y cosas más espirituales 🧷