De Re Metallica

New York, N.Y.: Dover Publications, Incorporated, 1950. Reprint. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. Reprint. [3], iv-xxxi, [1 (blank)], 638 pages. 11 x 7 inches. Publisher's green cloth with gold lettering on spine. Pictorial dust jacket. A very nice copy with a touch of wear to the corner tips and edges of the cloth binding and dj. Sound and clean, it is difficult to find in presentable condition. Cloth. Originally published in 1556, this is a reprint of 1912 translated edition done by The Mining Magazine.

"Originally published in 1556, Agricola's De Re Metallica was the first book on mining to be based on field research and observation - what today would be called the 'scientific approach.' It was therefore the first book to offer detailed technical drawings to illustrate the various specialized techniques of the many branches of mining, and the first to provide a realistic history of mining from antiquity to its day. For almost 200 years, Agricola remained the only authoritative work in this area and by modern times it has become one of the most highly respected scientific classics of all time. A book more often referred to in literature on mining and metallurgy than any other, its Latin text prevented it from being as widely used as it might have been.

In 1912, the book was translated by former President Herbert Clark Hoover and his wife. Printed in a limited edition, the work was quickly bought up by book collectors, historians, and medievalists, who had found that there was much to be learned from its pages." (from the front flap).