PETTUS Sir John
£950
Auction: 1 February 2005 at 11:00 GMT
Description
Fleta minor. The laws of art and nature, in knowing, judging, assaying, fining, refining and inlarging the bodies of confin'd metals ... 1st English edition, engraved port. frontis. and 43 engravings in the text, later half calf, marbled boards, titlepage and port. lightly discoloured, general light paper discolouration throughout, folio, London: Dawks, 1683
Note: Dibner 89; Wing P 1906
The work is in two parts, the first consisting of Pettus' translation, the only one in English, of the Aula subterranea domina dominantium subdita subditorum of Lazarus Ercker (fl. 1581), originally published in 1574 and one of the fundamental early texts in the field of mining and metallurgy. The second part, original to Pettus, is the first metallurgical dictionary in English, consisting of a glossary of the terms used in mineralogy. The fine engravings have been redrawn on copper from the woodcuts in the original Ercker edition, now with the figures in English costume. The illustrations depict all the equipment necessary for the processes described: moulds, furnaces, muffles, touch needles, balances, etc.