Natural Magick John Baptista Porta Basic Books Collector's Series Science 1958

Natural Magick in Twenty Books by John Baptista Porta (Giambattista della Porta), a Neapolitane.  Edited by Derek J. Price (Smithsonian Institution).  A volume in The Collector's Series in Science.  Published by Basic Books, Inc., New York (facsimile reprint of the 1658 London edition printed for Thomas Young and Samuel Speed).  Hardcover. Approx. 409 pages + index. Illustrated with the original woodcuts and diagrams.  This classic work of early modern natural philosophy / natural magic covers a wide range of topics including the causes of wonderful things, generation of animals, production of new plants, changing metals, counterfeiting gold, the loadstone, beautifying women, distillation, perfuming, artificial fires, cookery, fishing/fowling/hunting, invisible writing, strange glasses, static and pneumatic experiments, and more.  Condition: Good to Very Good. Boards show expected age wear, light rubbing, and toning consistent with a book of this age. Binding sound. Pages clean and unmarked from the photos provided. Please see all photos for exact condition (including front cover, rear cover with the 1658 imprint text, and title pages).  A handsome and desirable mid-century scholarly reprint of this important 16th/17th-century text, of interest to collectors of history of science, alchemy, natural magic, early modern philosophy, and occult-related literature.  Shipped carefully with tracking. Feel free to ask any questions.