Amazon.com description: Amazon.com Review: Encompassing two works in one book, this volume will interest occult historians and book collectors alike. A window on 18th-century alchemical practice, Albertus's translation of Praxis Spagyrica Philosophica--the simple instruction for producing the "philosopher's stone"--mirrors the original text and art (of which a facsimile is included), making this a worthy primary resource. Albertus's copious annotations to the text are of inestimable value when unraveling the more arcane references. From "One" to "Ten" is Albertus's own treatise on the fundamental manifestation of numbers. This work requires a great deal of concentration to follow, but it will reward readers with a nonmathematical theory transcending religious and magical systems, reaching straight into the heart of numbers themselves. --Brian Patterson