Gellert, Christlieb Ehregott | First edition of Gellert’s rare supplement on assaying and metallurgical chemistry

Gellert, Christlieb Ehregott

Anfangsgründe zur Probierkunst, als der zweyte Theil der practischen Metallurgischen Chimie, worinnen verschiedene neue Arte zuverlässig zu probieren. Leipzig: At the cost of the Author, 1755

8vo (184 x 102 mm). 3 folding engraved plates, decorative woodcut tailpiece; small library stamp removed from verso of title. Contemporary tree calf, spine gilt with fleurettes and morocco lettering-piece, marbled endpapers and edges; some rubbing and scuffing.

First edition of the scarce, separately-issued supplement to Gellert’s Anfangsgründe zur metallurgischen Chimie (1750), expanding his system of practical assaying. Gellert, a metallurgist, founder, and one of the earliest professors at the Freiberg Bergakademie, was the first to describe the cold amalgamation method of extracting metals from ores using mercury, a major innovation in eighteenth-century mining science.

The finely engraved plates by Bernigeroth depict contemporary smelting and assay practice in exceptional detail, including specialized furnaces, balances, crucibles, and tools for determining metal purity.

An uncommon work: no copies recorded in major U.S. institutional holdings. The present copy — the Freilich copy, sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2001 — is the only example to have appeared at American auction in fifty years.

REFERENCES

Partington II, 709–710; Poggendorff I, 870

PROVENANCE

Joseph A. Freilich (booklabel; Sotheby’s New York, 10 January 2001, lot 202)