Database of Alchemical Manuscripts

The following lists of about 4000 manuscripts from over 100 libraries includes most of the major collections of such manuscripts. I am placing this on the Web site in the hope that other scholars may be willing to exchange information on alchemical manuscripts. No one has yet sytematically surveyed alchemical manuscripts, and scholars in this area usually have to rely on information from friends and colleagues about interesting manuscript material.
I have been gathering these listings from published and unpublished catalogues for a number of years. I estimate that this represents about 75% of all alchemical manuscripts in existence. The descriptions are taken from catalogues that vary in the quality of their entries. While some are excellent, others are somewhat lacking. Only by examining each manuscript and making an exact description would it be possible to develop an accurate catalogue, however, in the absence of any other comprehensive source this catalogue will be a start to the investigation of the manuscript tradition in alchemy. Many of these manuscripts have multiple components. I would be very pleased to receive any corrections, amendments, or additional information about manuscript holdings. - Adam McLean.

UK Libraries
British Library - Sloane
British Library - Additional
British Library - Harley
British Library - Others
Bodleian - Ashmole
Bodleian - Rawlinson
Bodleian - Others
Wellcome Institute
Ferguson Collection
Cambridge
Alnwick Castle
Other Scottish Libraries
Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland
Edinburgh, Royal Coll. of Physicians
Edinburgh, University Library
Glasgow, Strathclyde University, Andersonian Library
St. Andrews University Library
Other English Libraries
Canterbury, Christ Church
Eton College
Lichfield Cathedral Library
Liverpool, University Library
Manchester, John Rylands Library
Nat. Lib. of Wales

Irish Libraries

US Libraries
Manly Palmer Hall Collection
Mellon Collection
Other US Libraries

French Libraries
Bibliotheque Nationale
Bibliotheque l'Arsenal
Other French Libraries
Bibliotheque Mazarine
Sainte Genevieve
l'Institut de France
Museum d'Histoire Naturelle
University of Paris
Bayeaux
Bordeaux
Bourges
Brest
Caen
Cambrai
Chartres
De Vire
Grenoble
Lyon
Marseilles
Montbeliard
Montpellier
Nantes
Narbonne
Orleans
Rennes
Rouen
Sens
Strasbourg
Troyes

Italian Libraries
Arezzo
Bassano de Grappa
Benedello
Bologna
Fano
Florence
Foligno
Macerata
Milan
Modena
Naples
Novara
Parma
Pessaro
Poppi
Ravenna
Rome
Rovigo
St. Severino Marche
Turin
Trieste
Urbania
Venice
Verginelli-Rota

Vatican

Austrian Libraries
Innichen
Innsbruck
Klagenfurt
Salzburg
Vienna
Austrian National Library

German Libraries
Bamberg
Berlin
Darmstadt
Donaueschingen
Dresden
Frankfurt
Gotha
Hamburg
Kassel
Köln
Lübeck
Marburg
Merseburg
Munich
Nürnberg
Schloss Breitenburg
Überlingen
Weimar
Wolfenbüttel

Swiss Libraries
Bern
Jung Collection, Küsnacht
St Gallen
Zurich

Belgian Libraries
Brouges
Bruxelles
Namur
Tournai

Dutch Libraries
Leiden

Czech Republic Libraries
Ceske Krumlov
Prague

Romanian Libraries
Budapest

Spanish Libraries

Israeli Libraries

Danish Libraries
Copenhagen - King's Library
Alchemical texts

16th Century
Practical alchemy
Philosophical alchemy
17th Century
Practical alchemy
Philosophical alchemy
18th Century
Practical alchemy
Philosophical alchemy
Alchemical poetry
Alchemical allegories
Works of Nicolas Flamel
Works of George Ripley
Works of Sendivogius
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
Emerald tablet of Hermes
Rosicrucian texts
Literary works
Texts from Musaeum Hermeticum
Spanish alchemical texts
German alchemical texts
French alchemical texts
Russian alchemical texts
Italian alchemical texts
Study Courses

Alchemical, astrological and
emblematic art prints

Alchemy and art

Art books Series

Study course on Bosch's
Garden of Earthly Delights
New Hieronymus Bosch Website