Phillips, John Arthur. The Mining and Metallurgy of Gold and Silver. London: E. & F.N. Spon, 1867. Quarto, pp. 532, 8 folding plates, frontispiece, well illustrated with over eighty illustrations including diggings at the Soimanofsk Mines, a section of the Comstock Vein, and tunnels under Table Mountain.
The book is in the original dark wine colored cloth with bevelled edges, gilt cover vignette and gilt spine titles. The binding appears to have been expertly recessed at some point with original end sheets retained. Outer and inner hinges nicely restored. The text is clean and bright, Book plate of the Norwich (England) public library on paste down and small oval stamp on title. In very good condition.
John Arthur Phillips (1822-1887) was a British geologist, mineralogist and metallurgist born in the Cornwall region and was educated at the Ecole des Mines de Paris completing his studies in 1846 and started his own consulting firm in 1847. Phillps made two trips to California and Nevada where he studied the ore veins and also looked at the possible association of mineral deposits to hot springs. He made several trips to various parts of Europe and North Africa consulting on mines and managing several working. Much of his research and observations are found in his book “Mining and Metallurgy of Gold and Silver”. Phillips also discusses the gold regions of the Old World, early mining in various British possessions around the world, and the Appalachian and western Gold regions of the United States. In addition to discussing in detail the various gold fields he was one of the first geologists to discuss the microscopic properties of minerals and rocks.
