???????? ?????, ?????????????? ????? ? ?????? ????????? ???????????? ???????? [Coal, Fire-Resistant Clay, and Iron Pyrites in the Novgorod Governorate]

8vo (240x160 mm). [2], 53, [1 blank] pp. Three large folding plates containing numerous technical diagrams. Nineteenth-century boards, rubbed and worn, with traces of an old paper label on the upper cover; corners and spine extremities worn; joints partly cracked. Some light browning and occasional spotting. Early German manuscript inscriptions on the preliminary leaves, including a presentation inscription to Gregor von Helmersen and an eight-line poem. Later cancelled library stamps and accession numbers of the Fundamental Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. An important presentation copy to Gregor von Helmersen (1803?1885), one of the founding figures of Russian geology, from his distinguished colleague Grigorii Iossa, a leading Russian metallurgist and mining engineer. An uncommon separately published treatise on the mineral resources of the Novgorod Governorate, investigating the occurrence and industrial exploitation of coal, refractory clay, and iron pyrites. Published in 1855, at a moment when the Russian Empire was increasingly concerned with the development of its domestic mineral resources and the modernization of its industrial infrastructure, the work is an instructive document of the close relationship between geological exploration, mining engineering, metallurgy, and the emerging chemical industries of nineteenth-century Russia. Its author, Grigorii Andreevich Iossa, belonged to a distinguished family of mining engineers and metallurgists whose members occupied important positions in the industrial administration of the Russian Empire. Having graduated with distinction from the St Petersburg Mining Cadet Corps in 1823, he continued his professional formation in Germany, studying at the celebrated Freiberg Mining Academy, one of Europe's principal centres for practical geology and metallurgical science. On returning to Russia, he became professor of metallurgy, salt technology, and mining engineering at the St Petersburg Mining Institute, retaining his professorial position for approximately twenty-five years. He subsequently attained the rank of lieutenant-general and was recognized as one of the leading representatives of Russian metallurgical science. The present work belongs to an important phase in the scientific investigation of the mineral deposits of European Russia. Concentrating particularly on the region of Borovichi, in the Novgorod Governorate, Iossa examines three mineral substances whose industrial importance extended far beyond their immediate geological interest. Coal represented a potential source of fuel for manufacturing and metallurgical operations; refractory clay was essential for the construction of furnaces and other installations exposed to intense heat; and iron pyrites provided a source of sulphur for chemical and industrial processes. Iossa's decision to investigate these materials together is particularly revealing. Rather than considering each substance as an isolated mineralogical curiosity, he approached them as complementary elements of a regional system of industrial resources. Their identification, extraction, preparation, and possible exploitation required the combined expertise of the geologist, the mining engineer, the metallurgist, and the industrial administrator. The three folding plates reinforce the practical character of the publication. They contain numerous carefully executed diagrams, including sectional drawings of installations, channels and conduits, working arrangements, and apparatus associated with the handling and processing of mineral materials. The date of publication gives the investigation a broader historical resonance. Appearing during the Crimean War, the treatise belongs to a period in which questions of industrial self-sufficiency, domestic fuel supplies, mineral extraction, and technological modernization had become particularly pressing for the Russian Empire. Although it should not be interpreted as a spec.…