AGRICOLA, Georg

Bermannus, sive De Re Metallica

      Woodcut printer!s arms on title (repeated on verso of last leaf). 135, [1] pp. Small 8vo, cont. calf (spine expertly rebacked, 2 cm. section of head of title well-renewed), sides panelled in blind with gilt fleurons in each corner, gilt arabesque device in center of panel. Basel: Froben, 1530. First edition of one of the great rarities of geology and mining; this is the first scientific book by Agricola. Regarding the extreme rarity of this book, it is revealing to note that Pres. Hoover, while forming his great collection on mining and metallurgy, failed to acquire a copy of the first edition (and Agricola was his favorite author!). In 1527, Agricola had finished his studies in Germany and Italy and was appointed town physician at Joachimsthal. !In those days St. Joachimsthal was the most important mining center in Europe besides Schwaz in the Tyrol. Miners and smelters, some of whom suffered from occupational diseases, were crowded together. Agricola studied not only their ailments but also their life, labor, and equipment. Day and night he visited the mines and the smoky smelting houses, and soon he had an excellent knowledge of mining and metallurgy. He recorded his impressions in Bermannus (1530)! !The success of this pioneer delineation of mining and metallurgy was assured by Erasmus, who contributed a letter of recommendation. Agricola was now a well-known author, and he indefatigably sustained his reputation with a flow of important books.!!D.S.B., I, p. 77. Several minerals, including bismuth, are described here for the first time. This is a fine copy of a rare book and only the second time I have had it (the previous copy was sold to Joseph Freilich). ❧ The Hoovers! translation of De Re Metallica, pp. vii & 596-97!!According to Agricola!s own statement, he spent all the time not required for his medical duties in visiting the mines and smelters, in reading up in the Greek and Latin authors all references to mining, and in association with the most learned among the mining folk. Among these was one Lorenz Berman, whom Agricola afterward set up as the !learned miner! in his dialogue Bermannus. This book was!a sort of catechism on mineralogy, mining terms, and mining lore! !Agricola!s first work in relation to mining!The book is in the main devoted to a correlation of the minerals mentioned by the Ancients with those found in the Saxon mines!It is of interest to find here the first appearance of the names of many minerals which we have since adopted from the German into our own nomenclature.! Schuh, Mineralogy & Crystallography: A Biobibliography, 1469 to 1920, 43!!Very rare.! .