The introductory essay on the object of alchemical philosophy.LIVES OF ALCHEMYSTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. LIVES OF Alchemystical Philosophers,BASED ON MATERIALS COLLECTED IN 1815,AND SUPPLEMENTED BY RECENT RESEARCHES WITH A PHILOSOPHICAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF THE MAGNUM OPUS, OR GREAT WORK OF ALCHEMICAL RE-CONSTRUCTION, AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE SPIRITUAL CHEMISTRY BY ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE…AUTHOR OF “THE REAL HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS;” “THE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC: A DIGEST OF THE WRITINGS OF ÉLIPHAS LÉVI,” ETC.