The Metallic Wealth of the United States Described and Compared with that of Other Countries

Tall 8vo, original cloth, spine lettered in gilt, illustrated with three lithographed plates and text illustrations, xxxii, 510 pp., inscribed "compliments of the author". Spine a bit faded, a couple of small pieces torn away at top and bottom of spine, old stain to rear cover, corners rubbed, nevertheless, binding is in very good condition, internally near fine. Josiah Dwight Whitney (1819-1896) was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Yale in 1839. He wanted a scientific career and did some geological work after college, but went to Europe for additional training. When he returned he became a field geologist for a company in Michigan. During his career he would be involved in a number of important geological surveys, and would even serve as professor of chemistry at the University of Iowa for a few years. The present work, which is quite scarce, is highly regarded and was "one of the first systematic texts in the field, it stimulated serious research on mineral ores and helped to establish mining geology as a scientific discipline." DSB). Includes, laid in, two geological off-prints by Whitney, extracted from other works. American National Biography.