The Minerals of Southern Africa

Description:

First edition. Rare. One of the earliest works printed/published in Johannesburg.

'The development of the Mineral resources of Southern Africa proceeds apace, but hitherto no attempt has been made to tabulate and arrange, either for scientific interest or practical purposes, the large amount of information which has been brought to light by the mining operations of the last few years.' - Preface.

'The introduction contains a short description of minerals, and the six systems of crystallography with an account of each, with diagrams. The work traces the development of the mineral resources of Southern Africa, and includes a large amount of information for scientific and practical purposes.' (Mendelssohn, Vol.II, p. 626).

Contains information on diamond mining, the De Beers diamond mine, and a summary of productions of diamonds at different mines during the period 1882-1891; precious metals, and many other metals and minerals.

Cuninghame Wilson-Moore (1860-1905) was curator of Witwatersrand Chamber of Mines, and author of A Practical Guide for Prospectors, Explorers, and Miners. Founded in 1889, the Chamber of Mines, an organization of mine owners, was officially constituted to disseminate authoritative statistical information about the Transvaal Gold Fields Limited, and to validate prospectuses.

Condition

8vo, orig. red cloth, minor wear. Light crease to bottom corner of pages towards the rear, with a short marginal nick to final leaf. Small printer's label, 'Argus Company, Johannesburg', to endpaper. From an institutional library with a few small ink stamps. Good. Bookplate of the Herbert Lister Bowman Library, Laboratory of Mineralogy, University of Oxford. Bowman (1874-1942) was Waynflete Professor of Mineralogy and Crystallography.