EsoteriaA library of sacred & hidden knowledge
1658 · Natural Magick

Giambattista della Porta · 1658

Natural Magick

Giambattista della Porta's Magia naturalis first appeared at Naples in 1558 in four books and was enlarged to twenty in 1589. For Porta natural magic is the practical part of natural philosophy: the art of producing marvellous effects by understanding the hidden sympathies and antipathies of things, without any help from demons. After a first book on the causes of wonders, the work ranges over the generation of animals and plants, metals and counterfeit gems, the loadstone, medicine and cosmetics, distillation and perfumes, fireworks, the tempering of steel, cookery, hunting, secret writing, lenses and mirrors, and experiments with weights and air. This anonymous English translation was printed in London in 1658; the text follows the EEBO-TCP transcription.

Begin reading

Contents

  1. 1.Title page168 w.
  2. 2.The preface to the reader1,842 w.
  3. 3.Book I, chapters 1–5: The causes of wonderful effects4,570 w.
  4. 4.Book I, chapters 6–8: The causes of wonderful effects5,165 w.
  5. 5.Book I, chapters 9–13: The causes of wonderful effects4,553 w.
  6. 6.Book I, chapters 14–20: The causes of wonderful effects4,436 w.
  7. 7.Book II, chapters 1–4: Mingling and generating living creatures4,800 w.
  8. 8.Book II, chapters 5–10: Mingling and generating living creatures4,727 w.
  9. 9.Book II, chapters 11–16: Mingling and generating living creatures4,689 w.
  10. 10.Book II, chapters 17–20: Mingling and generating living creatures4,560 w.
  11. 11.Book II, chapters 21–22: Mingling and generating living creatures2,252 w.
  12. 12.Book III, chapters 1–3: Husbandry and the production of new plants5,716 w.
  13. 13.Book III, chapters 4–7: Husbandry and the production of new plants5,347 w.
  14. 14.Book III, chapters 8–10: Husbandry and the production of new plants5,059 w.
  15. 15.Book III, chapters 11–12: Husbandry and the production of new plants5,666 w.
  16. 16.Book III, chapters 13–16: Husbandry and the production of new plants4,710 w.
  17. 17.Book III, chapters 17–18: Husbandry and the production of new plants4,410 w.
  18. 18.Book III, chapters 19–21: Husbandry and the production of new plants4,455 w.
  19. 19.Book IV, chapters 1–4: Housekeeping and the increase of household-stuff5,744 w.
  20. 20.Book IV, chapters 5–7: Housekeeping and the increase of household-stuff4,603 w.
  21. 21.Book IV, chapters 8–10: Housekeeping and the increase of household-stuff5,428 w.
  22. 22.Book IV, chapters 11–16: Housekeeping and the increase of household-stuff4,594 w.
  23. 23.Book IV, chapters 17–21: Housekeeping and the increase of household-stuff5,405 w.
  24. 24.Book IV, chapters 22–25: Housekeeping and the increase of household-stuff4,247 w.
  25. 25.Book IV, chapter 26: Housekeeping and the increase of household-stuff1,776 w.
  26. 26.Book V, chapters 1–2: Alchemy and the transformation of metals3,539 w.
  27. 27.Book V, chapters 3–5: Alchemy and the transformation of metals5,319 w.
  28. 28.Book V, chapters 6–10: Alchemy and the transformation of metals4,519 w.
  29. 29.Book VI, chapters 1–7: Counterfeiting precious stones4,693 w.
  30. 30.Book VI, chapters 8–13: Counterfeiting precious stones3,608 w.
  31. 31.Book VII, chapters 1–9: The wonders of the loadstone4,676 w.
  32. 32.Book VII, chapters 10–25: The wonders of the loadstone4,840 w.
  33. 33.Book VII, chapters 26–42: The wonders of the loadstone4,546 w.
  34. 34.Book VII, chapters 43–56: The wonders of the loadstone3,637 w.
  35. 35.Book VIII, chapters 1–6: Physical experiments4,865 w.
  36. 36.Book VIII, chapters 7–14: Physical experiments5,904 w.
  37. 37.Book IX, chapters 1–10: Adorning women and making them beautiful4,665 w.
  38. 38.Book IX, chapters 11–20: Adorning women and making them beautiful4,584 w.
  39. 39.Book IX, chapters 21–30: Adorning women and making them beautiful3,629 w.
  40. 40.Book X, chapters 1–6: Distillation5,023 w.
  41. 41.Book X, chapters 7–13: Distillation5,620 w.
  42. 42.Book X, chapters 14–19: Distillation4,692 w.
  43. 43.Book X, chapters 20–21: Distillation2,271 w.
  44. 44.Book XI, chapters 1–9: Perfuming4,739 w.
  45. 45.Book XII, chapters 1–6: Artificial fires5,264 w.
  46. 46.Book XII, chapters 7–13: Artificial fires5,668 w.
  47. 47.Book XIII, chapters 1–10: Tempering steel5,110 w.
  48. 48.Book XIV, chapters 1–7: Cookery4,818 w.
  49. 49.Book XIV, chapters 8–13: Cookery4,609 w.
  50. 50.Book XV, chapters 1–11: Catching and destroying living creatures5,925 w.
  51. 51.Book XVI, chapters 1–7: Secret and undiscovered notes5,529 w.
  52. 52.Book XVI, chapters 8–13: Secret and undiscovered notes3,969 w.
  53. 53.Book XVII, chapters 1–4: Burning-glasses and wonderful sights5,421 w.
  54. 54.Book XVII, chapters 5–10: Burning-glasses and wonderful sights4,786 w.
  55. 55.Book XVII, chapters 11–17: Burning-glasses and wonderful sights4,500 w.
  56. 56.Book XVII, chapters 18–23: Burning-glasses and wonderful sights3,302 w.
  57. 57.Book XVIII, chapters 1–8: Things heavy and light4,950 w.
  58. 58.Book XIX, chapters 1–6: Wind-instruments3,608 w.
  59. 59.Book XX, chapters 1–5: The chaos: experiments without order4,907 w.
  60. 60.Book XX, chapters 6–10: The chaos: experiments without order5,472 w.