Mining & Metallurgy.- Agricola (Georgius) De Re Metallica libri XII...De Animantibus Subterraneis, second edition in Latin, 290 woodcut illustrations (with occasional very minor touches of hand-colouring), some light marginal soiling and water-staining, contemporary vellum, repairs to spine ends and extremities, [Adams A350; Wellcome I.68; cf.PMM 79, first edition], folio, Basel, Hieronymus Frobens and Nicolaus Bischof, 1561.

⁂ A fine copy of the second edition (first 1556) of the "first systematic treatise on mining and metallurgy and one of the first technological books of modern times" (PMM).

"The twelve books of Agricola's treatise... embrace everything connected with Renaissance mining and metallurgical industries, including administration, the duties of companies and workers, prospecting, mechanical engineering, ore processing, and the manufacture of glass, sulfur and alum. Book VI provides detailed descriptions of sixteenth-century mining technologies, such as the use of water-power for crushing ore and the improvements in suction pumps and ventilation that became necessary as mine shafts were sunk deeper underground; it also includes an account of the diseases and accidents prevalent among miners, along with the means of preventing them. 'De Re Metallica' remained the standard textbook on mining and metallurgy for over two hundred years." (Norman catalogue).

The above work includes a reprint of his 'De Animantibus Subterraneis', a treatise on subterranean fauna and cave-dwelling animals.

Provenance: "Ven. Mandeys book 1690" (ink inscription on title); 'OGF ex libris' (engraved bookplate).