Les admirables secrets d’Albert-le-Grand, contenant plusieurs traités sur la conception des femmes, des vertus des herbes, des pierres précieuses, et des animaux; augmentés d’un abregé curieux de la physionomie, et d’un préservative contre la peste, les fièvres malignes, les poisons et l’infection de l’air; tirés et traduits sur des anciens manuscrits de l’auteur, qu n’avaient pas encore paru, ce qu’on verra plus amplement dans la table, et ce qui aura été ajouté dans cette dernière édition; divisés en quatre livres.

A Lyons: chez les Heritiers de Beringos fraters, a l’enseigne d’Agrippa, 1791. Stiff Wraps. See Description. Probably dates to late 18th – early 19th century. 16mo. pp. [20], 252, [10]. With frontispiece engraving and 4 full page wood cuts. Bound in modern stiff paper wraps. Text block is untrimmed. Interior pages contain occasional mild spotting, soiling and wear. Half-title is age-toned. A long strip is excised / torn-out of the outer margin on p. 221, running right up to the edge of the text, and obscuring a few letters; a piece is also torn from the bottom corner of p. 227 obstructing the last words in a couple of text lines. Some very miniscule holes on pp. 245/246 partially obstruct a couple of letters. There are several versions of "Les admirables secrets" with the date 1791, each with differences and with a different pagination (see WorldCat). The copy here offered is not the edition listed in Caillet and Dorbon-Ainé with the false 1791 date (attributed to Offray in Avignon, c.1850). The present copy is printed on chain-lined rag paper – late 18th – very early 19th century style. This is a classic book of secrets and natural magic which dates back to the middle ages. The work remained popular into the 19th century. Authorship was attributed (probably falsely) to Albertus Magnus (d. 1280). The book discusses the occult and medicinal virtues of various plants, herbs, stones, animals etc. Various medicinal remedies and magical recipes are also given. The content often showed considerable variation between printings and editions with publishers adding in supplementary information.