Eschwege, Wilhelm Ludwig von | First edition of a foundational study of Brazilian gold and diamond geology

Eschwege, Wilhelm Ludwig von

Pluto Brasiliensis. Eine Reihe von Abhandlungen über Brasiliens Gold-, Diamanten- und anderen mineralischen Reichthum, über die Geschichte seiner Entdeckung, über das Vorkommen seiner Lagerstätten, des Betriebs, der Ausbeute und die darauf bezügliche Gesetzgebung u. s. w. Berlin: G. Reimer, 1833

8vo (205 x 121 mm). 9 lithographed maps and plates (mostly folding), folding tables; lacking frontispiece, light spotting and dampstaining. Half calf over marbled boards, red morocco spine label.

First edition of Eschwege’s authoritative geological and mineralogical survey of Brazil, a landmark in the scientific study of the country’s gold and diamond deposits. Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege (1777–1855), a German geologist and mining engineer in Portuguese service and later inspector of mines for the newly independent Brazilian state, spent more than a decade conducting official tours of inspection, establishing mines, and mapping mineral districts, most importantly in Minas Gerais, whose diamond and gold workings he was the first to describe in rigorous scientific detail. Pluto Brasiliensis distils these pioneering observations on the formation, occurrence, extraction, and legal regulation of Brazil’s mineral wealth; together with his Journal, it is among Eschwege’s rarest works, and, as Borba de Moraes notes, “of greater scientific value and therefore more in demand.” The accompanying lithographed maps and plates—many after Eschwege’s field sketches—illustrate mining regions, geological structures, and extraction methods, and form a crucial visual record of early nineteenth-century Brazilian mining practice.

REFERENCES

Borba de Moraes 1:294 ("all of Eschwege's works are rare"); Bosch 404; Henze 2:182; Sabin 22830; Schuh 1577