An Incredible Chromolithographic Pharmacy Catalogue

April 20, 2015

An Incredible Chromolithographic Pharmacy Catalogue

 The most recent addition to our website is an evocative, late-19th century pharmaceutical catalogue from the Parisian firm Legendre & Saget (edit: this catalogue has now sold). This amazing catalogue is 624 pages long and weighs 2 kilograms (almost 4.5 pounds)! It contains thousands of interesting and unusual professional supplies, such as glassware, furnaces, scales, mortars and pestles, and chemical supplies. Also advertised are a dizzying array of wholesale goods for pharmacists to stock in their shops: from common items like bandages, braces, thermometers, and cosmetics, to the more unusual: eye patches, oxygen supplies, electrical therapies, and hydro-therapy equipment. Each page includes engravings of the wares on offer, but what makes this catalogue so appealing are the 27 large, bright chromolithographic plates, the most beautiful of which depict glassware, ceramic jars, chemical labels, and cosmetic boxes, some with metallic gold and silver highlights. Below, more images from this wonderful publication.

And we can't forget our favourite section - alembics!





Alembic Rare Books is closed - you can now find me at Shapero Rare Books in London. Visit shapero.com/collections/natural-history-science.