Imprinted at London for Ralph Mab, 1634. First edition. Small quarto (190 x 140 mm). Four works in one, paginated continuously, with separate title-pages: [10], 14, [2], 15-112, [16], 121-143, [3], 150-192, [2] pp. Complete, with all four title-pages and ten plates, plus nearly a hundred woodcuts throughout. A Very Good copy. Rebound in twentieth-century calf with spine titled in gilt. Binding a bit rubbed at corners and joints. Red sprinkled edges. Largely clean and fresh throughout.

John Bate's The Mysteryes of Nature and Art is a kind of practical guide to experimentation in engineering and chemistry. The work is divided into four sections: "Water-workes," the construction of pumps, engines, water clocks, and thermometers, as well as experiments involving evaporation and sound; "Fire-workes," which contains some of the earliest instructions for producing fireworks to be published in English, including a fantastic design for a "fire-drake," firework-propelled dragon; "drawing, limming, colouring, painting, and graving," including how to structure a drawing, how to mix paints, and how to use perspective; and "the booke of extravagants," containing miscellaneous, occasionally alchemical recipes for everything from varnish and eye drops to almond butter and "ice that will melt in fire, but not dissolve in water."

The work is now most notable for its influence on the young Isaac Newton, who came across a copy while he was attending the King's School in Grantham as a teenager. The Mysteryes of Nature and Art had a profound effect on Newton's intellectual development: he copied out sections, particularly those relating to the science of color; and experimented with Bate's designs, including his design for a water clock and a floating kite with a lantern.

ESTC records two variants of the first edition, both published for Ralph Mab. This copy with the same imprint as ESTC S122341 ("Imprinted at London for Ralph Mab"), though with a slight variation in the printing of one leaf – in ESTC S122341, the illustrated leaf after p. 14 is signed T4; in this copy, it is unsigned.

See: "The Mysteries of Nature and Art" (item No. 2442) in the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering "The Engines of Our Ingenuity" digital exhibit. Very Good (Item #8237)