Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

Table of figures

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            <p type="caption">
              <s>
                <pb pagenum="613"/>
              already skilled than to instruct the novice. </s>
              <s>The books appear to have grown by accretions
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              from many sources, for a large number of methods are given over and over again in the same
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              book with slight variations. </s>
              <s>We reproduce the title page of our earliest copy.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>The following is a list of these booklets so far as we have been able to discover actual
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              copies:—
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                <arrow.to.target n="table6"/>
              </s>
            </p>
            <table>
              <table.target id="table6"/>
              <row>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Date.
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Place.
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Publisher.
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Title (Short).
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Author.
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>Un-known</cell>
                <cell>Unknown</cell>
                <cell>Unknown</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>(Undated; but catalogue of British Museum suggests Augsburg, 1510.)</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell/>
                <cell/>
                <cell/>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1524</cell>
                <cell>Magdeburg</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probirbüchleyn tzu Gotteslob
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1531</cell>
                <cell>Augsburg</cell>
                <cell>Unknown</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbuch aller Sachsischer Ertze
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1533</cell>
                <cell>Frankfurt a. Meyn</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Bergwerck und Probierbüch-lein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1534</cell>
                <cell>Augsburg</cell>
                <cell>Heinrich Stey-ner, 8vo.</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probirbüchlein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1546</cell>
                <cell>Augsburg</cell>
                <cell>Ditto, ditto</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probirbüchlein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1549</cell>
                <cell>Augsburg</cell>
                <cell>Ditto, ditto</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probirbüchlein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1564</cell>
                <cell>Augsburg</cell>
                <cell>Math. Francke, 4to</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probirbüchlein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Zach. Lochner</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1573</cell>
                <cell>Augsburg</cell>
                <cell>8vo.</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probirbuch
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Sam. Zimmermann</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1574</cell>
                <cell>Franckfurt a. Meyn</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1578</cell>
                <cell>Ditto</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein Fremde und subtile Kunst
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Cyriacus Schreittmann</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1580</cell>
                <cell>Ditto</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1595</cell>
                <cell>Ditto</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Modestin Fachs</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1607</cell>
                <cell>Dresden</cell>
                <cell>4to</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Metallische Probier Kunst
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell/>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell/>
                <cell/>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Bericht vom Ursprung und Erkenntniss der Metallis-chen erze
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>C. C. Schindler</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1669</cell>
                <cell>Amsterdam</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Modestin Fachs</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1678</cell>
                <cell>Leipzig</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Modestin Fachs</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1689</cell>
                <cell>Leipzig</cell>
                <cell/>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Modestin Fachs</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1695</cell>
                <cell>Nürnberg</cell>
                <cell>12mo.</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Deutliche Vorstellung der Pro-bier Kunst
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1744</cell>
                <cell>Lübeck</cell>
                <cell>8vo.</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Neu-eröffnete Probier Buch
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1755</cell>
                <cell>Frankfurt and Leipzig</cell>
                <cell>8vo.</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Scheid-Künstler . . . alle Ertz und Metalle . . . probiren
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>Anon.</cell>
              </row>
              <row>
                <cell>1782</cell>
                <cell>Rotenburg an der Fulde</cell>
                <cell>8vo.</cell>
                <cell>
                  <emph type="italics"/>
                Probierbuch aus Erfahrung aufgesetzt
                  <emph.end type="italics"/>
                </cell>
                <cell>K. A. Scheidt</cell>
              </row>
            </table>
            <p type="main">
              <s>As mentioned under the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Nützlich Bergbüchlein,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              our copy of that work, printed in 1533,
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              contains only a portion of the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Probierbüchlein.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
              <s> Ferguson
                <emph type="sup"/>
              13
                <emph.end type="sup"/>
              mentions an edition of 1608, and the
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              Freiberg School of Mines Catalogue gives also Frankfort, 1608, and Nürnberg, 1706. The
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              British Museum copy of earliest date, like the title page reproduced, contains no date. </s>
              <s>The
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              title page woodcut, however, in the Museum copy is referred from that above, possibly indi­
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              cating an earlier date of the Museum copy.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>The booklets enumerated above vary a great deal in contents, the successive prints
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              representing a sort of growth by accretion. </s>
              <s>The first portion of our earliest edition is devoted
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              to weights, in which the system of “lesser weights” (the principle of the “assay ton”) is
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              explained. </s>
              <s>Following this are exhaustive lists of touch-needles of various composition.
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              </s>
              <s>Directions are given with regard to assay furnaces, cupels, muffles, scorifiers, and crucibles,
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              granulated and leaf metals, for washing, roasting, and the preparation of assay charges.
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              </s>
              <s>Various reagents, including glass-gall, litharge, salt, iron filings, lead, “alkali”, talc, argol,
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              saltpetre, sal-ammoniac, alum, vitriol, lime, sulphur, antimony,
                <emph type="italics"/>
              aqua fortis,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              or
                <emph type="italics"/>
              scheid­
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              wasser,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              etc., are made use of. </s>
              <s>Various assays are described and directions given for crucible,
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              scorification, and cupellation tests. </s>
              <s>The latter part of the book is devoted to the refining
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              and parting of precious metals. </s>
              <s>Instructions are given for the separation of silver from iron,
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              from lead, and from antimony; of gold from silver with antimony (sulphide) and sulphur, or
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              with sulphur alone, with “
                <emph type="italics"/>
              scheidwasser,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              ” and by cementation with salt; of gold from copper
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              with sulphur and with lead. </s>
              <s>The amalgamation of gold and silver is mentioned.</s>
            </p>
          </chap>
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      </text>
    </archimedes>
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