The artifact

Heinrich Khunrath. Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae. [Hamburg: s.n., 1595].

Likely published in Hamburg in 1595, this first edition, of which only a few copies exist, is notable for its elaborate, hand-colored engraved plates heightened with gold and silver, as well as complex letterpress pages. Cf. Denis Duveen, "Notes on some alchemical books," The library: Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, series 5, 1:1 (June 1946), 56-58. The Duveen copy in the Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison, consists of pages approximately 42.5 cm tall x 48 cm wide. The circular engravings, including surrounding engraved text, measure approximately 41.5 cm in diameter. Both the engraved plates and the letterpress pages bear what are presumed to be contemporary manuscript annotations/corrections. They should be compared with the copy reproduced in Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, Faks.-Ausg. des Erstdrucks von 1595, mit einer Einleitung von Carlos Gilly (Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog, 2000).