The Alchemist's Laboratory

Bibliodyssey has posted a lovely series of 20 prints depicting the work-spaces of alchemists and the art of transmutation. Some are serious, some are folly. Above, Le Plaisir des Fous ("the pleasure of fools"), an 18th century print.

Original painting by David Teniers (before 1690). This version engraved by Pierre-François Basan sometime in the 1700s. This satirical view of an alchemist shows that not all illustrations were meant to be taken too seriously.

The Flickr set is here, so you can zoom in to enjoy the detail lost in compression. Most of these images are from SCETI at UPenn and the British Museum.