First editions of the first two pamphlets written by the German-Dutch alchemist and chemist Johann Rudolph Glauber (1604-1670) attacking his former pupil, who became his bitter enemy, Christoph Fa(h)rner (1616-1686), schoolmaster and church custodian in Löchgau, Württemberg. Many lampoons would follow.
One of Glauber's goals in publishing his many books was to advertise himself: by promoting his expertise in print, he sought to win customers. Glaubers dispute with Christoph Farner, which erupted in print in 1655, was a case in point. Farner had come to Glauber seeking to become a student in his laboratory. In January 1652 he had signed an obligation to keep secret what he learned from Glauber. The arrangement exploded when Glauber discovered that Farner was circulating copies of a manuscript containing twenty-six of Glaubers proprietary recipes (sufficient to be considered "publication", though not printed). Glauber was the first to resort to print, in the present Apologia. Farner retaliated with Christoff Fahrners, ... Widerlegung, oder vilmehr Warnung, vor der groß prallenden Explicatio Miraculi mundi, Stuttgart, 1656 (Refutation or rather Warning...), in which he began to work his way through Glaubers previously published writings, denouncing various of Glaubers claims as fraudulent. Glauber replied (1656) with his present Zweyte Apologia. Farner replied again with Ehrenrettung Christoff Fahrners ... wider die genandte Apologi ... (The restoration of Christoff Farners honour , ... against the so-called Apologi, actually a lie-filled libel). Glauber replied again with his Glauberus redivivus ... , all this in 1656 with at least three further publications to follow in the next two or three years.
In very good condition. Andrew Sparling, "The experience and authority of an artisan adept: the German alchemist Johann Rudolph Glauber (1604-1670)" (lecture, delivered 10 Nov. 2002, History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Cambridge, Mass.); Arnulf Link, Johann Rudolph Glauber 1604-1670: Leben und Werk, 1993.