In early modern Europe precious and semiprecious stones were valued not only for their beauty and rarity but also for their medical and magical properties. Lorenzo de’ Medici, Philip II of Spain, and Popes Leo X and Clement VII were all treated with expensive potions incorporating ground gems such as rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. Medical and magical/astrological lapidaries, texts describing the stones’ occult and medical qualities as well as their abilities to ward off demons and incantations, were essential resources for their use. First published in Venice in 1502, Camillo Leonardi’s Speculum Lapidum is an encyclopedic summary of all classical and medieval sources of lithotherapy. 
In describing the natural, manifest, and occult properties of precious and semiprecious stones as well as their graven images and applications, the Speculum Lapidum provides tremendous insight into the role that medical astrology and astral magic played in the life of an Italian court in the early modern period. Liliana Leopardi’s English translation, complete with critical apparatuses, gives unprecedented access to this key text within the magical lapidary genre. 
A vital addition to the existing canon of lapidaria in translation, Leopardi’s work will be of special importance for students and scholars of the history of magic, medicine, religion, and Renaissance humanism, and it will fascinate anyone interested in the occult properties of precious and semiprecious stones.

Speculum Lapidum: A Renaissance Treatise on the Healing Properties of Gemstones (Magic in History)

Arts & Photography

Leonardi, Camillo

History & Criticism

Penn State University Press

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Medical theory and practice of the 1700s developed rapidly, as is evidenced by the extensive collection, which includes descriptions of diseases, their conditions, and treatments. Books on science and technology, agriculture, military technology, natural philosophy, even cookbooks, are all contained here. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library T146554 Horizontal chain lines. Pp. 120-199 omitted in pagination but text and register are continuous. London : printed for J. Freeman, 1750. 119,200-240p. ; 8°

The Mirror of Stones: In Which the Nature, Generation, Properties, Virtues and Various Species of More Than 200 Different Jewels, ... Are Distinctly ... ... Now First Translated Into English.

Medical Books

History

Gale ECCO, Print Editions

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. 
Medical theory and practice of the 1700s developed rapidly, as is evidenced by the extensive collection, which includes descriptions of diseases, their conditions, and treatments. Books on science and technology, agriculture, military technology, natural philosophy, even cookbooks, are all contained here. 
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The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: 
++++ 
<sourceLibrary>British Library\n<ESTCID>T146554\n<Notes>Horizontal chain lines. Pp. 120-199 omitted in pagination but text and register are continuous.\n<imprintFull>London : printed for J. Freeman, 1750. <collation>119,200-240p. ; 8°

The Mirror of Stones: In Which the Nature, Generation, Properties, Virtues and Various Species of More Than 200 Different Jewels, ... are Distinctly ... ... Now First Translated Into English

The third book of Speculum Lapidum was first published in Venice in 1502 by the astrologer and doctor Camillo Leonardi, a native of Pesaro with a doctorate from the famous University of Padua. As a courtier of Costanzo Sforza when the city of Pesaro passed to Borgia, Leonardi tried to win their favor by dedicating his work to the Duke of Valentinois, Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI. 
In three books, the treatise describes the nature of stones and represents a synthesis of ancient and medieval knowledge on the topic. The first two books examine the origin and classification of stones and gems; in the third book Leonardi examines their magical virtues and powers in detail. These powers are not inherent in stones, but derive directly from the sky, planets, constellations, and fixed stars. Every object, animal, herb, stone resonates with the same energy it receives from stars, and for those who are familiar with the chain of correspondences between macrocosm and microcosm, anything is possible. 
The book summarized the most important and well-known medieval lapidaries of its time, and thus it experienced immense good fortune. It was reprinted several times, translated into Italian, and published in 1565 by Lodovico Dolce in 1565), partly in English (in 1750), and French (Claude Lecouteux, 2002). However, the third book, owing likely to its overtly magical nature, has never been translated into English before. 
The third book is comprised of 19 chapters. The first chapters (1-7) are dedicated to the discussion of the nature of stones and classification of seals in terms of three aspects: universal (not depending on the material used: the zodiacal seals), particular (depending on stars' configuration: seals of stars and constellations), and significative (intensifying the inner virtues of stones: non-zodiacal/magical seals). Chapters 8-10 describe the astrological triplicities and their virtues. The remaining chapters collect several medieval lapidaries. 
With this translation from Margherita Fiorello, we have the opportunity to keep in our bookshelves a tome that until now was known only to the greatest experts on the history of medieval and renaissance magic, a book originally written for one Cesare Borgia, a man whose name is deeply linked with necromancy and black magic. We don't know if Leonardi believed in this legend, or if he merely intended to create a talismanic encyclopedia for his patron based on the medieval idea that stones, more than other natural and artificial objects, could best absorb stellar rays. 
Nevertheless, this text grants us a fresh chance to explore the ancient magical and astrological lore of the stones and will allow us to put new gas on the fires of the contemporary magical revival.

The Mirror of Stones: Speculum Lapidum, Book III: An Astrological Lapidary

Religion & Spirituality

New Age & Spirituality

Revelore Press

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