FERBER, Johann Jacob Beschreibung des Quecksilber-Bergwerks zu Idria in Mittel-Cräyn. Berlin, Christian Friedrich Himburg, 1774
8vo (197 x 120 mm), pp [iv] 76, with four folding engraved plates on three leaves, the first hand-coloured; a little marginal spotting, a very nice copy in contemporary boards. £950
First edition, a geological and mineralogical description of the mercury mines of Idria in Italy, with a detailed history of mining in the region. Ferber travelled extensively in Italy, and his mineralogical observations were published from the series of letters he wrote to von Born. Ferber (1743-1790) was a Swedish mineralogist who had studied under Cronstedt, Linnaeus, and Bergmann, with the latter of whom he wrote Sciagraphia Regni Mineralis. He taught in St Petersburg, where he held a chair in natural history offered him by the Empress Catherine II, although he declined the offer of the directorship of the mines of Siberia. He later taught in Berlin before settling in Switzerland as advisor on mining operations. His geological surveys in various European countries are all pioneering works.
Not in Hoover, not in Ward and Carozzi; NUC: CLU WU MH-BA MH MeB
£950
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