De re Metallica. Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 with Biographical Introduction, Annotations and Appendices upon the Development of Mining Methods, Metallurgical Processes, Geology, Mineralogy & Mining Law from the earliest times to the 16th Century.. This item is unavailable.De re Metallica. Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 with Biographical Introduction, Annotations and Appendices upon the Development of Mining Methods, Metallurgical Processes, Geology, Mineralogy & Mining Law from the earliest times to the 16th Century.

First edition in English; folio (35.5 x 23 cm); illustrated throughout with woodcuts, library stamps to pastedowns and title page, some very light foxing; publisher's full vellum, spine lettered in black, somewhat soiled, some edges untrimmed; [4], xxxii, 640 pp. The first English translation of Georgius Agricola's De re Metallica, originally published in Latin in 1556. The authoritative text on metallurgy for nearly two centuries, this translation was prepared by Lou Hoover, a geologist and polyglot who was proficient in Latin, and her husband Herbert Hoover, a mining engineer, and was privately published by subscription. Herbert, of course, went on to become the 31st president of the United States, with Lou as First Lady.