Large woodcut device on title with arms, surmounted by papal & royal crowns and numerous woodcuts & woodcut initials in the text. Printed tables in the text. 4 p.l., 71 leaves, one leaf. Small 4to, fine 19th-cent. Jansenist binding of crushed red morocco by Thibaron-Echaubard (as usual, washed), dentelles gilt, a.e.g. Valladolid: A. & D. Fernandez de Cordova, 1572.

First edition and very scarce. Arfe (1535-95), studied anatomy at Salamanca and became a celebrated artisan in precious metals. Trained as a goldsmith by his father, he was a leading figure of the Spanish artistic style known as “Plateresque,” which was based on elaborate... More

16 fine folding engraved plates (a little waterstained in lower corners). xii, 98 pp. Large 4to, cont. calf (some rubbing & a bit of worming), spine gilt. Bayreuth: Heirs of J.A. Lübeck, 1800.

First edition and quite rare. Baader (1763-1835), a prominent mining expert and Chief of the Bavarian Mining Council, resided in England and Scotland from 1786 to 1794, where he studied the most recent technological developments, both in mining and metallurgy. While in Edinburgh, he designed a new blasting machine for iron mines which had considerable success and became known as the Baadersches Geblaese. His greatest contribution to science was... More

Title within woodcut border & numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 8 p.l., 168 leaves. Small 4to, cont. limp vellum. [Venice: Comin da Trino for C. T. de’ Navò], 1558.

Third edition of the first systematic book on mining and metallurgy; according to Cyril Stanley Smith, the second edition of 1550 and our edition are far superior to the first edition of 1540 for in that earlier edition “the type is worn, poorly aligned, and arranged in a solid mass, unrelieved by paragraphing.”–Smith & Gnudi, The Pirotechnia (1943), pp. xix-xx.

Biringuccio (1480-1539?), after travelling throughout Italy and Germany, inspecting metallurgical operations and running an iron mine... More

Lithographed frontis. xvi, 276 pp. 8vo, orig. printed wrappers, uncut. Freiberg: Craz & Gerlach, 1825.

First edition of this rare account of the great mining city Freiberg in Saxony which owes its origin to the discovery of silver mines ca. 1163. Freiberg has traditionally been the seat of the general administration of the mines throughout Saxony and is the home of the famous mining academy, which produced so many famous geologists and mineralogists.

Breithaupt (1791-1873), a leading mineralogist and professor of mineralogy at the mining academy at Freiberg (succeeding Mohs in 1826), has provided an extremely detailed account of the history, the chief landmarks... More

40 leaves (the final blank). Small folio (332 x 210 mm.), orig. paste-paper boards (spine & extremities somewhat worn), uncut. [Clausthal?: ca. 1815].

A fine and legible manuscript instructional manual on techniques and problems of mine surveying. The text is divided into five chapters: “Von der Vorbereitung zum Markscheiden” (“On preparations for measuring the area in which mining may be carried out”), “Von Bennenung der Gänge und Klüfte” (“On the naming of seams and fissures”), “Vom Observiren” (“On Observations”), “Vom Vermaß oder Verbestimmung eines Grubenfelds” (“On measuring and defining a mining claim”), and “Von Wasserfällen, Wasserleitungen und Tiefbau” (“On waterfalls, water conduits and underground mining”)... More

Four parts in one vol. with continuous pagination. 2 p.l., 748 pp. 8vo, cont. marbled boards, paper labels on spine. Halle: “im Verlag der Waisenhaus-Buchhandlung, 1805.”

A rare and fascinating journal — which did not extend beyond its first four parts — concerning the Harz Mountains in northern Germany and the surrounding lands. “Hercynia” is the Latin name for “Harz.” The Harz Mountains are most famous for the rich mining activities which have taken place there since the Bronze Age. Silver was discovered in the 10th century and iron, copper, lead, barite, and zinc were also mined. Forestry has also been an important industry. More

3 p.l. (lacking the first leaf, a blank; title a little soiled), 143, 152-66 pp. Small 4to, cont. English limp vellum. London: N. Okes for N. Bourne, 1623.

First edition of one of the great early English accounts of the exploration of the interior of Africa and the first to be published separately (others appear in collections); it is a classic account of the search for gold.

Ghana, the earliest known empire of the western Sudan, first entered the historical consciousness of North Africa near the end of the eighth century but probably originated long before. Famous to North Africans as the... More

Oblong thick 8vo, orig. padded silk cloth binding. [Japan]: 1898.

A rare collection of 32 albumen photographs taken by Toshimo Mitsumura (1877-1955), the famous commercial photographer and printing entrepreneur; one of the greatest industrialists of the Meiji period, he is also highly esteemed today as a photographer. These photographs represent some of his earliest efforts. Mitsumura’s photographs have always been highly regarded and are held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

A native of Kobe, Mitsumura purchased his first camera at the age of 14 and quickly became... More

Finely engraved title-page, one folding engraved map, & numerous large & fine engraved head- & tail-pieces. xx, 464, [34] pp. Folio, cont. marbled sheep (lower cover a little abraded), spine richly & brightly gilt, orange morocco lettering piece on spine. Vienna: M. A. Schmidt, 1780.

First edition, and a really fine copy, of this beautifully decorated and attractive book. This work contains a detailed account and history, district by district, of the mines of Bohemia, an area of great mineral wealth including coal, lignite, iron, and the raw materials for porcelain. Peithner provides much information on the earlier and contemporary mineralogical and geological histories of the area... More

Title printed in red & black. 18 p.l., 679 pp.; [24], [92] leaves. Two parts in one vol. Large folio, cont. blind-stamped panelled pigskin over boards (light browning). [From title-page of second part]: Lyon [but really Geneva]: P. Santandreanus, 1582.

An excellent edition of Pliny’s Natural History, the greatest general scientific and encyclopedic work of antiquity, a storehouse of physical, geographical, and historical knowledge which profoundly affected the Western world’s thought for more than 1500 years. It deals with mathematics, physics, geography, astronomy, medicine, physiology, zoology, botany, geology, mineralogy, mining, metallurgy, pharmacology, anthropology, philosophy, history, agriculture, the arts and letters, etc.

This edition contains the valuable Castigationes of Sigismund Gelenius (1497-1554), the eminent Greek scholar and humanist, who used two ancient manuscripts in the preparation. Adrianus Turnebus (1512-65), professor of Greek at the College Royal, Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609), Justus Lipsius (1547-1606), and others have provided notes and variant readings. More

Finely engraved allegorical frontis. incorporating a port. of Louis Auguste de Bourbon, the dedicatee, 179 engraved plates (many folding), & six folding engraved tables. Engraved arms on titles & several engraved headpieces. 10 p.l., 348 pp.; 3 p.l., 386 pp. Two vols. Large 4to, cont. fine red sheep, gilt fillet round sides, spines gilt, contrasting vellum lettering pieces on spines, a.e.g. Paris: J. Anisson, 1697.

First edition of the classic French work of the period on artillery, which served several generations of artillery officers, including the young Napoleon. This richly illustrated work went through several later French editions (1702, 1741, 1745) and was translated... More

Folding engraved map (520 x 595 mm.) in fifteen sections, finely handcolored, backed with linen as issued (two sections also backed with marbled board as issued), preserved in the orig. marbled card slip-case (a little worn), orig. yellow printed paper label on upper cover. London: Published by J. Cary, March 1st 1824.

First edition of William Smith’s geological map of Durham, one in a series of county maps produced by Smith, each separately issued, which were the first detailed geological maps of specific areas. Smith’s individual maps are extremely rare on the market.

Smith produced the first geological map of England and Wales in 1815, which contained “an amazing amount of correct detail” (D.S.B.) and was the basis for all the geological maps that followed. In 1819 he began the publication of a geological atlas of England and Wales. Published in parts over five years, it remained unfinished, containing twenty-one maps of various English counties. More