Fourth edition of the translation into Latin of the famous Secreti of Alexius Pedemontanus (or Piemontese, ps. of Girolamo Ruscelli (1500-1565), as is generally assumed), by Johann Jakob Wecker. The first edition of this translation had appeared in Basel, published by Petrus Perna, in 1559, followed by two editions in 1560 (Basel and Antwerp); a fifth edition was also published in Lyon in 1565.
Pedemontanu Secreti, first published in 1555, was an immensely popular book, printed in more than a hundred editions until the end of the 18th century.
The Secreti was, apart from this Latin edition, translated into, German (1569; translator also J.J. Wecker, also published by Petrus Perna), English (1558), Spanish, French (1557) and Polish, and unleashed a torrent of Books of Secrets that continued to be published down through the 18th century.
The translator Johannes Jacob Wecker (1528-1586) was a Swiss physician and philosopher. He worked as a physician in Colmar from 1566 and wrote a number of works about medicine, some of which were in both French and Latin, the most well-known being his Antidotarum generale, a work about alchemy. His work is known for the elaborate bibliography on chemistry-alchemy. Doubtless fleeing accusations of sorcery, Wecker moved to Basel where he was appointed professor of logic.
Owner's stamp (with initials A. D. C.?) in the lower margin of the title-page. In very good condition. Adams, A729; Durling, 110; Duveen, p. 15; Ad Stijnman, A short-title bibliography of the Secreti by Alessio Piemontese 044; Wellcome, 178; cf. W. Eamon, Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture (Princeton 1994); Ferguson, Hist. of Inventions and books of secrets, I/5, pp. 30-31; Thorndike VI, p. 215.