Church, John A.; The Comstock Lode its Formation and History...illustrated by six plates and thirteen figures. New York, 1879. Quarto, pp. iv, 2, 226, six folded colored profiles, 13 text figures.
The volume is complete and in the original stamped dark green cloth with gilt cover titles and later cloth spine to match with gilt titles. Inner hinges re-enforced, AIME book plate on paste down and owners signature on title page and end sheet. The text and plates are very clean. A very good copy.
A Mining Engineer; Church accompanied Wheeler's "Surveys West of the 100th Meridian" and used notes made during that survey in writing the above work along with his own studies made as part of his doctoral dissertation while at Columbia. Much of his work was based on underground surveys of his own and those produced by engineers employed by the various mines making this work one of the first based strictly on those underground surveys and not stratigraphic surveys. He describes the mines, lode rocks and their formation, provides needed considerations in developing new ore bodies, and predicts the future outlook for the Comstock.