PREFACE

...mountain, which the larger it is, the more it shows perfection and a good mixture of substances, and also a greater quantity of mineral. AND PRESUPPOSING that by signs or other ways you have found the mountains, and by knowledge you have also found the mineral, without firmly knowing the particular species of it: to certify what metal such mineral is, and what quantity it holds, or what company The "company" refers to associated minerals or "gangue" found alongside the primary metal. it keeps, or what its purity is, or what malice In historical metallurgy, "malice" refers to impurities or "rebellious" substances that make the metal difficult to extract. is found in it, it is necessary—before you make any expense to know it—that you assay The process of testing a small sample of ore to determine its value and composition. it one or more times (as I will teach you in its particular place in the third book).

And thus, having certified that it is a mineral, and what metal and quantity it contains, and finding by calculation enough profit to cover the expense, I exhort you to give a spirited beginning and follow the undertaking with all diligence, and set yourself to digging. I promise you that for whatever mineral matter you find, in proportion to the same weight of that substance which you took from the surface for the assay, you will find that which is deeper in the mountain to be of far better quality. Thus, drawn by the certainty of the assay, the quantity of the thing shown to you by the signs, and every other reasonable cause that would dispose you to firmly want to dig, you must also dispose yourself to do it with all speed, so that you may soon enjoy the fruit of it; and if it is not found in that place, you may try your good fortune elsewhere.

BUT wanting to do this, you must first choose the site where the beginning of your mine should be made. Take care that it is as convenient as possible for the men who must work there, and above all, that it has an easy entrance into the mountain to reach the deposit with the least expense and shortest time possible. Following the signal you have taken, you should cross through first with judgment and then with labor in a straight line until you strike the thick mass of the mineral, breaking through every layer of stone encountered in the course of the mine. Always keep the signs shown on the outside as your North Star Original: "tramontana." Biringuccio uses the pole star as a metaphor for a guiding principle or constant direction. to reach them.

And besides the place where you have destined the entrance and beginning of the mine, you must also choose another location, either on the slope above or to the side, provided it is nearby and convenient, to build one, two, or more huts for the convenience and service of the workers. One is for their sleeping and for your assistant to stay, so he may be there at all hours to see and urge the men to work, and also to dispense provisions and keep them safe, and to provide for their other needs. The other is to make a workshop for blacksmithing to repair broken iron tools and make new ones, to help those who lack them as they are consumed and damaged by use and breakage.

And these things being done, with a good provision of food and the number of skilled miners you wish to use, and with the necessary instruments for breaking and digging stones and for carrying the earth, IN THE NAME of God and of prosperous fortune, have the priest bless the mountain and all the other workshops, and baptize the mine A common Renaissance tradition where a new mine was consecrated with religious rites and often given a paternal saint's name to ensure divine protection and success., dedicating—