A COMPLEAT TREATISE OF MINES EXTRACTED FROM THE MEMOIRES D'ARTILLERIE. TO WHICH IS ANNEXED, (BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION) PROFESSOR BELIDOR'S DISSERTATION ON THE FORCE AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF GUNPOWDER, ILLUSTRATED WITH A GREAT VARIETY OF COPPER PLATES

London, England: Printed by Charles Say: And Sold by J. Nourse and P. Vaillant in the Strand, and T. Payne, by the Meuse-Gate, near St. Martin's Church, 1752. First Edition. Leather-bound. Very Good. 8vo. Nicely rebound in period half-leather calf, over stone marble boards of slate blue, brick red and tan. Five raised bands (six compartments).Contrasting spine label (gilt on red) with snowflake device in gilt to each compartment, and 1752 date stamped in gilt at bottom. Endpapers repeat marbled pattern of boards. [23]168. Extremely rare, highly-detailed title on the nature, construction, charging, and exploding of land-mines, to which is appended the entire text of Bernard Forest de Belidor's groundbreaking treatise on the force, use and effect of gunpowder. Plates 9 & 12 absent; Plate 14 shows a closed tear, plate 7 defective. Worldcat (OCLC) lists only two or three libraries worldwide who hold the actual book.

Specifically covered are: Introduction to Mines, the Memoirs of the author/engineer; the manner of constructing mines, forneaus, saps, galleries, &c. by an Engineer and Artillery Officer; Table for charging Mines (Marshal Vauban); General Rules to Charge Mines and Fourneaus properly; Of the Countermines of the Besieged to annoy the Enemy; Miner's Tools; Memoir on Mines, by Mr. de la Motte, chief Commissary; Of the frustrum of a Cone with respect to the Aperture of Mines; Proportion of the Galleries and Branches; Of the different sorts of Mines; of the Distance of the Galleries; Of the Disposition of the Fires; Mr. de Valliere's Dissertation on Mines and their Advantages in the defence of Places; Explanation of the Figure and Disposition of Fourneaus; Mr. de Valliere's Table for the Charges of Mines; Mr. Belidor's NEW EXPERIMENTS TO FIND THE PROPER CHARGES FOR THE CHAMBERS OF MINES.

Fabulous copperplate foldout diagrams, highly detailed. 19 out of 21 (originally called for).
(ESTC; t100809). "...The Science of Mines is at present become a principal Branch in the Attack, but especially in the Defence of Places. The celebrated Memoirs d'Artillerie have met with such Universal Applause from all the Literati, that I flattered myself a Translation of the following Extract...would not be unacceptable...I have annexed...Mr. Belidor's Dissertation upon the Force and Physical Effects of Gunpowder because...'there are several things connected with the theory of mines which can only be explained by that of Gunpowder.'" "...There are several Methods to take away the Props and throw down the Wall. The first, is to bind f-g-ts* of wood) to the Props and set Fire to them...The second, is to bore a Hole at the Bottom of the Props, and put an Ounce of Powder into it, and stop it with Paper, or Flax: Then another Hole is bored with a small Augre thro' the Prop transversely, through which a Match is put to convey Fire to the Powder; the same must be done to each Prop, and a Train of Powder laid which may communicate the Fire from one to the other; the Props then falling will pull the Wall after them. The Third Method, and in my Opinion the best, costs neither powder nor Fa_go_s. Let there be twenty-four Ropes, one End tied to the Bottom of each Prop; then let there be five or six Men to each of the other Ends of the Ropes, who jerking all together, the Props will certainly fall, and the Wall having now no Support, will immediately tumble down. This same Method may be used with regard to small Towers..."(pp.80-81).

*ambiguous, now politically incorrect term meaning "a bundle of sticks or twigs bound together as fuel.", which if used correctly here would be "caught by the bot" and you, dear reader, would never have had opportunity to acquire this fabulous book. The 'Memoires d'artillerie' was by Pierre Surirey de Saint-Rémy.