AGRICOLA, Georgius (BAUER, Georg)

by Georgius (BAUER, Georg) Agricola

£12,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

SECOND EDITION of the "first systematic treatise on mining and metallurgy and one of the first technological books of modern times" (PMM), the earliest and pre-eminent early work on metallurgy and mining. It is remarkably richly illustrated with technical woodcuts of the highest quality, largely by Hans Rudolf Manuel Deutsch (after Blasius Weffring). All of them are based on Agricola's own drawings of processes and phenomena he personally observed. The work "embraces everything connected with the mining industry and metallurgical processes, including administration, prospecting, the duties of officials and companies and the manufacture of glass, sulphur and alum. The magnificent series of two hundred and seventy three large woodcut illustrations add to its value. Some of the most important sections are those on mechanical engineering and the use of water power, hauling pumps, ventilation, blowing of furnaces, transport of ores etc., showing a very elaborate technique" (PMM). It is "one of the great monuments of technology by reason of the comprehensiveness of its text and the detail and intelligibility of its numerous illustrations" (Singer, vol II, p. 27), and became "the early standard treatise" on the subject (Horblit, 2b). It is also one of the important contributions to physical geology, in particular the influence of wind and water erosion on landscape and its clear account of the order of strata exposed by mines. The work concludes with a 20 page glossary of technical

• Binding: Hardcover

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