Treatise On The Great Art

Treatise on the Great Art: A system of physics according to Hermetic philosophy and theory and practice of the Magisterium is a book by Antoine-Joseph Pernety, first published in the 18th century. This compact yet ambitious work sets out Pernety’s clear, methodical presentation of the Hermetic and alchemical tradition. Written by a Benedictine scholar who moved in Enlightenment and occult circles, the treatise treats alchemy not merely as metal transmutation but as a system of natural philosophy and spiritual regeneration — a practical manual of the magisterium that explains the theory and stages of the Great Work alongside wider Hermetic cosmology. The tone is instructive and systematic, which makes the text useful both to students of the symbolic language of alchemy and to readers seeking a historically grounded account of the art. Because Pernety frames alchemy as a blend of laboratory craft, natural philosophy and spiritual discipline, the book has been treated by later occultists and historians as an important eighteenth-century statement of how Hermetic practice and Enlightenment learning intersect. Useful for those looking for classic alchemical manuals, and historical Hermetica.