Translated from the 1546 first latin edition. Cloth cover shows minor wear and bumping to several corners, minor soiling. Pages slightly sunned but in very good condition. Previous owner's name stamped on front flyleaf. One of the earliest comprehensive treatises on the study of and uses of minerals and ore deposits. Agricola not only studied the early classic literature, but was in a position to visit many mines and mineral deposits, and therefore brought a new understanding as to how minerals formed and could be found. Much attention is also paid to the uses of minerals, what constituted valuable ore deposits. A great work in the history of the geological sciences. 240 pages, including a latin mineral index. From the personal library of Dr. Byron N. Copper (1925-1971), founder and long-time professor of the Geology Department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute