Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

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              <s>
                <pb pagenum="xxvii"/>
              he had begun.
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              9
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              Recently Vannucci Biringuccio, of Sienna, a wise man
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              experienced in many matters, wrote in vernacular Italian on the
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              subject of the melting, separating, and alloying of metals.
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              10
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              He
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              touched briefly on the methods of smelting certain ores, and explained
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              more fully the methods of making certain juices; by reading his
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              directions, I have refreshed my memory of those things which I myself
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              saw in Italy; as for many matters on which I write, he did not touch upon
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              them at all, or touched but lightly. </s>
              <s>This book was given me by Franciscus
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              Badoarius, a Patrician of Venice, and a man of wisdom and of repute; this
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              he had promised that he would do, when in the previous year he was at
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              Marienberg, having been sent by the Venetians as an Ambassador to King
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              Ferdinand. </s>
              <s>Beyond these books I do not find any writings on the metallic
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              arts. </s>
              <s>For that reason, even if the book of Strato existed, from all these
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              sources not one-half of the whole body of the science of mining could be
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              pieced together.</s>
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              <s>Seeing that there have been so few who have written on the subject of the
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              metals, it appears to me all the more wonderful that so many alchemists have
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              arisen who would compound metals artificially, and who would change one
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              into another. </s>
              <s>Hermolaus Barbarus,
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              11
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              a man of high rank and station, and
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              distinguished in all kinds of learning, has mentioned the names of many in
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              his writings; and I will proffer more, but only famous ones, for I will limit myself
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              to a few. </s>
              <s>Thus Osthanes has written on
                <foreign lang="grc">χυμευτικά;</foreign>
              and there are Hermes;
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              Chanes; Zosimus, the Alexandrian, to his sister Theosebia; Olympiodorus,
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              also an Alexandrian; Agathodæmon; Democritus, not the one of Abdera,
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              but some other whom I know not; Orus Chrysorichites, Pebichius, Comerius,
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              Joannes, Apulejus, Petasius, Pelagius, Africanus, Theophilus, Synesius,
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              Stephanus to Heracleus Cæsar, Heliodorus to Theodosius, Geber, Callides
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              Rachaidibus, Veradianus, Rodianus, Canides, Merlin, Raymond Lully,
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              Arnold de Villa Nova, and Augustinus Pantheus of Venice; and three women,
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              Cleopatra, the maiden Taphnutia, and Maria the Jewess.
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              12
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              All these alchemists
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              employ obscure language, and Johanes Aurelius Augurellus of Rimini,
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              alone has used the language of poetry. </s>
              <s>There are many other books on
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              </s>
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