De la pirotechnia

The pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio

Title page, De la pirotechnia, 1540, Science History Museum
Author	Vannoccio Biringuccio
Original title	De la pirotechnia
Translator	Cyril Stanley Smith, Martha Teach Gnudi
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Subject	Metallurgy
Published	1540 (original) 1942 (in English) The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers
Media type	paperback
Pages	477
ISBN	0-486-26134-4
OCLC	20671722
Dewey Decimal	669 20
LC Class	TN144 .B4513 1990
Followed by	1959 edition

De la Pirotechnia is considered to be the first printed book on metallurgy to have been published in Europe. It was written in Italian and published in Venice in 1540. The author was Vannoccio Biringuccio, a citizen of Siena, Italy, who died before it was published.

(The second book on metallurgy, De re metallica, was written in Latin by Georgius Agricola, and published in 1556.)

Both books were translated into English in the 20th century. The translation of Pirotechnia was by Cyril Stanley Smith, a senior chemist on the Manhattan Project, and Martha Teach Gnudi. Both books were illustrated with extensive, beautiful woodcuts. The translation of De la Pirotechnia has more extensive notes and footnotes.

The majority of the work is devoted to the more technical aspects of metalworking (such as the mining, assaying and smelting of ores), but Biringuccio also provides insights into the humanistic philosophy of the Italian Renaissance. Alchemy is also discussed.

References

• Vannoccio Biringuccio (1959) [1540]. De la pirotechnia. Dover books on earth sciences: Dover Classics of Science and Mathematics. Translated by Cyril Stanley Smith; Martha Teach Gnudi. Courier Dover Publications. p. 477. ISBN 9780486261348.