![A glimpse inside the pages of the first Latin edition of «De re metallica» of 1556.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/titel-agricola-300x225.jpg)
De re metallica – a 16th-century bestseller
How a Chemnitz doctor revolutionised mining, and why he had his book printed in Basel… The story of Georg Bauer, better known as Georgius Agricola.
![Portrait of Georgius Agricola.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/agricola-300x271.jpg)
![Georgius Agricola statue in Glauchau.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/agricola-gauchau-159x300.jpg)
![Furnaces were constructed from rock salt, and the salt water was boiled inside them.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/salzgewinnung-194x300.jpg)
![The highly detailed woodcuts contributed to the book’s success.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/pferde-1-190x300.jpg)
![The highly detailed woodcuts contributed to the book’s success.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/bild-agricola-178x300.jpg)
The highly detailed woodcuts contributed to the book’s success. ETH Library Zurich
![Portrait of Johannes Froben, print, late 18th century.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/2019/03/Johannes-Froben-255x300.jpg)
![The 31st President of the United States of America, Herbert Clark Hoover, was a fan of Agricola’s work.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/hoover-258x300.jpg)
![At the court of the Emperor of China, the Jesuit Johann Adam Schall worked on astronomy and translated Agricola’s book into Chinese, among other things.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/portrat-gregorius-195x300.jpg)