SIMONIN, Louis Laurent.
La vie souterraine ou les mines et les mineurs.
Paris, L. Hachette and company (back of half-title: Imprimerie generale de Ch. Lahure), 1867. Large 8vo (26.5 x 16.5 cm). With the title-page printed in red and black, 10 chromolithographed plates depicting minerals, some highlighted with silver (including the frontispiece), 30 (chromo)lithographed maps and 163 wood engraved illustrations in text (36 full-page). Contemporary half sheepskin. [3], [1 blank], III, [1 blank], 607, [1] pp.
€ 600
Second edition, in the original French, of a richly illustrated work on mining and minerals by Louis Laurens Simonin (1830-1886), published in the same year as the first edition with the same plates and illustrations. It is divided into three parts: coal mines, metal mines, and mines of gemstones, dealing with mines all over the world but emphasizing those in France. "Simonin also includes sections on mining in America with a map of the sites along Lake Superior and one of California-Nevada" (Schuh). "The best parts are those dealing with coal and metal mines, and with many fascinating, and indeed sometimes horrific illustrations of mining ardors and dangers" (Sinkankas).
Only slightly browned with some occasional, mostly marginal, spots or stains. Binding slightly worn along the extremities. Overall in very good condition. BMC NH, p. 1928 (incomplete); Schuh, Simonin 2; Sinkankas 6060.
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