WALLER, William.

An Essay on the Value of the Mines, late of Sir Carbery Price...Writ for the private Satisfaction of all the Partners.

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Two folding woodcut plates with letterpress. Title within double-ruled border. 12 p.l., 55 pp. 8vo, cont. panelled calf (small defect to foot of upper joint, browning & foxing throughout), panels formed with gilt filets, gilt fleurons in each corner. London: 1698. First edition. “The famous copper, silver, and lead mines of Sir Carbery Pryse, or Price (d. 1695), were discovered in 1690 on his estates in Cardiganshire, Wales, and their reputed value was so great that they were called the “Welsh Potosi.” Pryse formed a company of himself and twenty-four shareholders, but they were opposed by the Society of Royal Mines, and several lawsuits followed. When Pryse died in 1695, Sir Humphrey Mackworth (1657-1727) purchased the shares and formed the famous Company of Mine Adventurers. Mackworth was later accused of embezzlement and found guilty by the House of Commons in 1710... “This privately printed work is dedicated to Mackworth and about sixty other dedicatees, including Sir Christopher Wren, and was written to induce wealthy investors to exploit the riches of these mines. In addition to detailed discussions of economic matters, there are sections of chemical interest. Pages 36-50 concern the silver that can be extracted from these mines, and pages 10-14 describe the silver mines of Potosi in Bolivia, with the Welsh mines being very favorably compared with them. This is a copy of the issue without the printer’s name, of which Wing W552A records only the Harvard copy: it is probably the first issue. The second issue of 1698 has “F. Collins” in the imprint (Wing W552) and is less rare than the first issue.”–Neville, II, pp. 603-04. The first plate depicts a geological cross-section of the mines in Wales and the second plate shows the silver mines at Potosi. Apart from the foxing, a very good copy. ❧ Hoover 855.

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• 订书号：: HillBibl-1707

• 书商: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)