Probier Büchlein : darinne gründlicher Bericht vermeldet, wie man alle Metall, und derselben zugehörenden metallischen Ertzen und Getöchten ein jedes auf sein Eigenschafften und Metal recht probieren soll / H. Modestin Fachsen, Fürstlichen Anhaldischen gewesenen Müntzmeister und Wardien in Leipzig.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Fachs, Modestinus.

Contributor:

Freilich, Joseph A., former owner.

Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

German

Subjects (All):

Chemistry--Early works to 1800.

Chemistry.

Assaying--Early works to 1800.

Assaying.

Mints--Holy Roman Empire--Early works to 1800.

Mints.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

Manuscripts, German.

Manuscripts, European.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by bookseller and mineral dealer Joseph A. Freilich (Bayville, N.Y.; bookplate, inside upper cover).

Sold at auction as part of the Freilich collection at Sotheby's, 10 Jan. 2001, lot 181, to Lawrence J. Schoenberg.

Deposit by Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle, 2011.

Gift of Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, 2019.

Physical Description:

135 leaves : paper ; 203 x 155 (162 x 125) mm bound to 203 x 160 mm

Place of Publication:

[Germany], [between 1650 and 1699]

Language Note:

German.

Biography/History:

Chemist and master of the mint of the Prince of Anhalt, in Saxony.

Summary:

Fair copy of the 1622 edition of a work written in 1567 on assaying gold and silver. The discussion of assaying includes the first known observation that tin and lead gain weight upon heating during calcinations. Information on management of the mint is also included. An alphabetical index (Register) follows the text (p. 233-241).

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Title from title page (f. 1r).

Pagination: Paper, ii + 135 + i leaves; [i-xxviii], 1-232, [233-242]. Catchwords on each page, lower right corner.

Layout: Written in 21-22 long lines; outer vertical margins marked by folding.

Script: Written in a German cursive script by a single hand.

Binding: Contemporary 17th-century marbled paper with Modestin Fachsen, Probier Büch, MDLXVII written in ink on upper cover; blue paper spine with Modestin Fachsen, Probier Büchlein, 1622, 1567 written in ink on spine label. A call number, XXI.171, was later added outside and inside the upper cover.

Origin: Written in Germany in the second half of the 17th century.

Local Notes:

Lawrence J. Schoenberg & Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative.

Cited in:

Described in Transformation of knowledge: early manuscripts from the collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg (London: Paul Holberton, 2006), p. 113 (LJS 401).

Cited as:

UPenn LJS 401.

OCLC:

758983542

Online:

The Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative Fund Home Page