There's a lot of books that cover different angles on alchemy.
Here are some of my favorites:
For beginners, a good history is nice to have. There are lots of good
books written on specific alchemists or Jewish alchemy or Indian alchemy,
etc. So for a nice intro I'll list three:
"Alchemy and Alchemists" by Sean Martin
"Alchemy" by E.J. Holmyard
"Alchemy" by Titus Burckhardt
There's also a couple "coffee table" type books that fall into that last category:
"Secrets of the Alchemists" by the editors of Time-Life books
"Alchemy, the Ancient Science" by Neil Powell
Another "coffee table" book that is quite broader than just alchemy and
very good is
"The Secret Teachings of All Ages" by Manly P. Hall
For symbols and images:
"The Alchemical Mandala" by Adam McLean
"Alchemy and Mysticism" by Alexander Roob
"Alchemy, the Secret Art" by Stanislas Klossowski de Rola
"The Golden Game" by same as above
There are a couple dictionaries of alchemy you might find useful. I don't
use mine much, but two of them are:
"The Dictionary of Alchemy" by Mark Haeffner
"The dictionary of alchemy" by Diana Fernando
Probably a better dictionary is the one by Antoine Pernety.
On symbols, but in a place all its own, we must include Fulcanelli:
Mystere de Cathedrals, and Dwellings of the Philosophers
For spiritual or inner alchemy, my favorite is
"The Hermetic Tradition" by Julias Evola
Many people like "Initiation into Hermetics" by Franz Bardon
Another one is "Seven Hermetic Letters" by Georg Lomer
Mark Stavish is a practical alchemist who also writes on spiritual subjects.
Another book is "The Tower of Alchemy" by David Goddard (personally
don't care for it).
One that isn't specifically alchemy, but I really like is
"The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order" by Paul Foster Case
Now the Classics:
Besides Fulcanelli,
"The Hermetic Museum" by A.E. Waite
"Triumphal Chariot of Antimony" by Basil Valentine
"Collectanea Chemica" by A.E. Waite
"The Art of Distillation" by John French
"The Great Art" by Antoine Pernety
"Golden Manuscripts" by Frater Albertus
"The Alchemists Handbook" also Frater Albertus
Commentary on Mutus Liber by Adam McLean
Compendium of Alchemical Processes - anonymous
and my personal favorite:
18th Century Chemistry as it Relates to Alchemy
RAMS digital library is a must!
Recent contemporary practical alchemists:
Robert Alan Bartlett - "Real Alchemy" and "The Way of the Crucible"
The Weiser concise guide to Alchemy by Brian Cotnoir
Complete Idiot's guide to Alchemy by William Hauck
One of the best IMO is "The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy" by Manfred Junius
You might want to get a good herbal:
Culpepper's is very popular and has astrological assignments.
Weiner's Herbal is a good one also IMO.
You might want to study astrology.
You might want to study Hermeticism:
"The Kybalion" and "The Hermetica" are good works
Also a nice book on rocks and minerals that gives you their composition.
I like "A Pocket guide to Rocks and Minerals" by James Lagomarsino
