The Chemical Wedding, by Christian Rosencreutz

Often described as an alchemical allegory, John Crowley instead decided this is “the first science fiction novel." After all “it's fiction; it's about the possibilities of a science; and it's a novel." No matter what else it might be, it's definitely “one of the great outlandish stories in Western literature." Illustrated throughout with weird and fascinating woodcuts by Theo Fadel.