“Ostanes, the Mede, was one of the celebrated early alchemists. Several writers have recorded for us the existence of a book called The Book of the Divine Prescriptions, which seems to have been the most famous writing of these Persian sages.”

— Osthanes

Francis Preston Venable, A Short History of Chemistry (1894) p. 6. https://books.google.com/books?id=fN9YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA6

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pen-name used by several pseudo-anonymous authors of Greek … -500

Osthanes (-500) pen-name used by several pseudo-anonymous authors of Greek and Latin works of alchemy

Francis Preston Venable, A Short History of Chemistry (1894) p. 9. https://books.google.com/books?id=fN9YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA9

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On Glamorama <br class="br"> http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=571852

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Source: Postscript to the Name of the Rose

“Ostanes, the Mede, was one of the celebrated early alchemists. Several writers have recorded for us the existence of a book called The Book of the Divine Prescriptions, which seems to have been the most famous writing of these Persian sages.”

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