Hercules piochymicus
A Latin alchemical treatise by the Toulouse physician Pierre-Jean Fabre, printed by Pierre Bosc in 1634, reading the labours of Hercules as stages of the alchemical work for learned readers. The 32 pictures are woodcut initial letters, each set in a square of foliage, grotesque masks, birds and beasts, with small figures of men, satyrs and lions inside the letterform \u2014 a ready alphabet of decorated capitals for drop caps, monograms and ornament borders.
