acquired in 2017
The Ore Mountains (known in German as Erzgebirge) was one of the most important mining regions in early modern times. In 1654, refugees from Bohemia founded the town of Johanngeorgenstadt in the middle of the region, and it very soon became a flourishing mining center. Within a few decades a hundred iron ore mines were in operation. Later tin and silver mining began, and uranium was added after World War II. The book provides a detailed description of a booming mining town in the 18th century.
The book is the first edition of what appears to be the first description of the great mining city of Johanngeorgenstadt in the heart of Saxony's Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge), on the border with the Czech Republic. This is an uncommon book; library catalogues locate no copy in North America and about 25 copies in Europe. Mining began in Johanngeorgenstadt in the 17th century and by 1680 there were about 100 silver, iron, and tin mines in the town and surrounding area. It should be mentioned that in 1789, the chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth first discovered uranium from the Georg Wagsfort mine (Georg-Wagsfort-Fundgrube) in the city.
The book describes the city, its buildings, its phenomenal growth in the 17th and early 18th centuries (today it has lost 90% of its population), the mines and their production (very detailed), and metal works (again, very detailed). The engraved plates depict the city, its buildings, and mine locations.
The volume contains one folding engraved view of the city and one folding engraved map of the city and its environs. Title printed in red & black. Small 4to, contemporary half-vellum & paste-paper boards (minor browning).
Fine copy. Stamp of the "I.F.H. Schlosser Bibl." (a private library) on verso of title. From the library of Carl Sahlin (1861-1943), industrialist and a writer on the science of mining and metallurgy. We reprint the description of the book by courtesy of the antiquarian bookseller Jonathan A. Hill (New York City), from whom the Iron Library acquired the volume.