BERGMAN, Torbern Sciagraphia Regni Mineralis, secundum principia proxima digesti. Leipzig, I.G. Müller, 1782
8vo (155 x 96 mm), pp. 166 [2]; small repair to blank margin of errata leaf, a fine copy in contemporary speckled half sheep and speckled boards. £950
First edition, rare, of this foundation work in mineral classification. Bergman was the first to propose that minerals should be classified according to their chemical composition and not on the basis of their external appearance. In the Sciagraphia Bergman classified 'minerals into four major groups: salts, earths, metals, and inflammable bodies, and then subclassified each of those, exercising care in trying to provide a more consistent nomenclature than the current standards' (Parkinson). Bergman's nomenclature was adopted by Louis Guyton de Morveau in the same year, and helped to standardise chemical nomenclature. See DSB II pp. 4-8.
Partington III p. 184; Parkinson Breakthroughs p. 206; NUC: CtY CU
£950
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