Dedicatory inscription by Robert Fludd (1574-1637)

The first volume of the Library's copy of Robert Fludd's Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia (1617-1621) bears a dedicatory inscription to John Williams by Fludd himself. Fludd was a physician and writer on the occult, and this was his first major work. It is full of mystical emblems representing the relation of man to the cosmos, and to God, probably designed by Fludd himself. These volumes bear a sheepskin binding with the armorial of Williams on the cover.