Rickard, Thomas A.; Journeys of Observation. (Two works bound in one) Among the Mines of Mexico. Being the record of a journey from New York to Mexico, together with a description of the mining industry of El Oro, Pachuca, and Guanajuato, as observed in October 1905. [and] Across the San Juan Mountains. Being the account of a ride over the mountainous mining regions of Southwestern Colorado, in September 1902. San Francisco: Dewey Publishing Company, 1907. Quarto, pp. xvi, 255 pages, vii, 130 pages with 144 pages of plates, illustrations, maps.
The work is complete and bound in the original pictorial green cloth lettered and decorated in black, brown and pale green. The ending is tight and clean, very minor, book plate on paste down, no other markings. Light shelf wear to edges, text untrimmed, bright and very clean. In near fine condition.
Thomas Arthur Rickard (1864 – 1953) was born to British parents in Italy. He was educated in Russia and England. In 1885 Rickard graduated from the Royal School of Mines and began a long career as a mining engineer in the United States, Europe and Australia. He became one of the world’s foremost mining engineers and received much praise for exceptional writing and editing. He began his career in Colorado, where he took his first job as assayer for a British mining firm in Idaho Springs. In 1887 he was appointed Manager of the Union Mine in Calaveras County, California. Two years later he was hired as consultant to investigate several mines in England and Australia, and was later sent to the French Alps where he took charge of silver-lead mines. Between 1889 and 1902, Rickard examined over 85 mines in Australia alone. He returned to Colorado and was appointed State Geologist by Governor McIntyre in 1896.
His writing and editing were exceptional and, in 1903, he took over as editor-in-chief of the “Engineering and Mining Journal” in New York. He purchased the “Mining and Scientific Press” of San Francisco in 1905 and assumed editorship a year later. Then on April 18, 1906 the devastating San Francisco earthquake and fire resulted in the Press burning to the ground. Rickard’s cousin, Tom Rickard, Mayor of Berkley, helped locate an emergency printer, and the “Berkeley Reporter” printed the mining paper on a single sheet. It was mailed out to subscribers while San Francisco was still burning.
Rickard later served as editor of the “Mining Magazine,” and authored numerous articles, editorials, and books. His views shaped many generations of miners, mining engineers and geologists. Rickard advocated technical education, the importance of thorough sampling and mine examination, and stressed the significance of mine management.
