NUISEMENT, Clovis Hesteau de.

Extremely rare and interesting posthumous edition of this alchemical poem by Clovis Hesteau de Nuisement (c.1550 – 1623-24),  French Renaissance poet who wrote several other works of alchemical poetry, including the ‘Traittez de l’harmonie, et constitution generalle du vray sel, secret des Philosophes, & de l’esprit universel du monde’ published alongside the present work. He also made several translations of classical texts. He was part of the group of intellectuals who formed the entourage of Henri III and his brother the Duke of Alençon at court and was made ‘secrétaire de la chambre du Roi et de Monsieur’, receiving a pension as one of the King’s ‘Poettes-Géographes’, ‘Historiographes’ and ‘Traducteurs’. He took part in the work of the Academy founded by Jean-Antoine de Baïf. After the Duke of Alençon fled in 1578, he left France to work for the Antwerp printer Christophe Plantin and became secretary to Jacques Harlay de Champvallon. Returning to Paris in 1583, he was prosecuted for forging documents, for which he spent several months in prison. He had been introduced to alchemy by François de Foix around 1581. In 1624, after his death his laboratory equipment was seized and sold at auction in Ligny to cover his debts.

This poem was published under the general title ‘Oeuvre de la physique naturelle’, 1640, which included three works, each with separate title and imprint including another by Nuisement entitled “Traittez de l’harmonie, et constitution generalle du vray sel”. The two poems by Nuisement (both especially rare) were first published in 1621 and 1620 respectively. At the end of the present, main work, the “poème philosophique”, are included two further poems, the “Stances” and the “Visions hermétiques”. A. M. Schmidt in ‘la poésie scientifique au XVIe siècle’ states that in these ‘Visions hermétiques’ “Nuysement s’efforce ici de défendre l’art auquel il a voué sa vieillesse” against the derogatory allegations of Du Gault against the value of alchemy. Schmidt qualifies this poem, the “Visions hermétiques”, as the “chef-d’oeuvre de la poésie alchimique française”.

The “poème philosophique” in this edition has been extensively annotated in the margins by a contemporary hand with explanations of references etc. giving a most interesting idea of how the work was received by a contemporary audience.