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Author: Barba, Alvaro Alonso
Title: Arte de los Metales, en que se enseña el verdadero beneficio de los de oro y plata por azogue. El modo de fundirlos todos, y como se han de refinar y apartar unos de otros
Place Published: Madrid
Publisher:En la oficina de la viuda de Manuel Fernandez
Date Published: 1770
Description: 228, [4] pp. Woodcut illustrations in the text. (8vo) 20.2x14 cm (8x5½"), later quarter sheep & marbled boards, spine tooled in gilt.The earliest work on South American ores and minerals, first published in 1640, by the secular Catholic priest and metallurgist Alvaro Alonso Barba, born in Lepe in 1569. In 1609, he invented the pan amalgamation process for extracting silver from ore by mixing it with salt and mercury and heating it in shallow copper vessels. In 1640 he published in Madrid the present work, Arte de los Metales, which in addition to general information on South American ores and minerals, includes details on mineral localities in Bolivia. This copy with the old inkstamp of Jose Maria Gomez del Campo, San Luis Potosi, on the back of the title page and the bottom of the last text page. San Luis Potosi was a gold and silver mining hub northeastern Mexico.

Covers rubbed but sound; title page with some chipping and worming affecting a few words of text, paper repairs, a few old ink notations; a few repairs and minor aging within; overall very good.