Alchemy & early chemistry
Treatises, compendia and commentaries tracing changing ideas about matter and transformation.
16th–19th c.A scholarly and cultural initiative
A house for the histories of transformation.
Domus Alchemia preserves, studies and shares the intellectual heritage of alchemy and early chemistry – connecting art, science and philosophy across more than four centuries.
DomusAlchemia
3,000+books and works
16th–20thcenturies represented
One collectionart · science · philosophy
Why alchemy?
Before disciplines separated, knowledge moved freely.
Alchemy was not simply a search for gold. It was a field in which observation, craft, philosophy and imagination met – helping shape the practices from which modern chemistry emerged.
Domus Alchemia approaches this legacy critically and historically. We are interested in the material practices, books, images and ideas through which people tried to understand transformation: of matter, of knowledge and of themselves.
Our aim is not to revive esoteric belief, but to make a complex intellectual inheritance available for rigorous study and thoughtful public encounter.
The collection
A private library becoming a public resource.
More than 3,000 volumes, alongside manuscripts, engravings, illustrations and selected historical instruments. The collection is now entering a phased process of cataloguing and documentation.
Pharmacy & medicine
Works connecting mineral, botanical and chemical knowledge with the history of healing.
17th–20th c.Metallurgy & material practice
Accounts of furnaces, ores, techniques and the practical cultures surrounding early laboratories.
16th–20th c.Images, symbols & instruments
Engravings, illustrative material and objects that reveal how knowledge was made visible.
Selected worksThe online catalogue will grow in stages. Records will be open; full digital reproductions will remain selective and contextual.
Research & access
Catalogue first.
Context always.
- 01
Describe
Build reliable, open metadata around the works, their provenance and their intellectual setting.
- 02
Interpret
Curate selected works and images through scholarship, exhibitions and public programmes.
- 03
Connect
Enable research consultation and partnerships through a direct, human access model.
Are you researching the history of science, chemistry, pharmacy, philosophy or material culture?
Make a research enquiryThe institution
Built in the open.
Domus Alchemia is currently a cultural initiative, with the intention of becoming a non-profit association in Spain.
We are building relationships with researchers, universities, museums, libraries, public authorities and cultural partners before making claims about what the institution will become.
We are also exploring potential physical locations that could properly care for the collection, welcome researchers and support a thoughtful public programme. No location has yet been selected.
Begin a conversation
Help shape what this collection can become.
We welcome serious enquiries from researchers, institutions, funders, educators and potential collaborators.
contact@domusalchemia.org