Schuh’s Annotated Bio-Bibliography

BROCCHI, Giovanni Battista.

(1772 – 1826)

(Born: Bassano, Italy, 18 Febrary 1772; Died: Kartoum, Sudan, 23 September 1826) Italian geologist & mineralogist.

In 1801, Brocchi was named professor of natural history at the Lyceum in Brescia. In 1809, he became inspector of mines in Milan, and for this made an extensive tour of Italy. At the request of the royal family, he made in 1821 an tour of Egypt. Brocchi was a member of the Institute of Milan.It studied jurisprudence and theology to the University of Padova, but very soon it began to be interested to natural sciences and in particular to geology. He was university professor of natural history to the Grammar school of Brescia from 1801 to 1808, year in which was called in the napoleonica administration of the Reign of Italy like Inspector of the mines and it was moved to Milan. Brocchi maintained this assignment until the issolution of the Council of the Mines in 1814 and published three deals to you mineralogici on some goes them Lombardic and tirolesi south. Between 1811 and 1819 compì you attend geo-mineralogici travels in several regions of Italy being interested in particular to vulcanici lands of Lazio and Campania. It died during a travel in Africa.

Biographical references: ABI: I 205, 67; 205, 121; II 85, 355-356. • Benvenuti, Dizionario degli Italiani all'Estero, 1890. • Berti, G.D. , Un naturalista dall'Ancien Régime alla Restaurazione: Giambattista Brocchi (1772-1826) / Giampietro Berti. Bassano, G.B. Verci, [1988]. 156 p., ill. [Published as: Quaderni bassanesi. Storia. no. 1.]. • Casati, Dizionario degli Scrittori d'Italia, 1925-34. • Cleevely, World Palæontological Collections, 1983: 66. • DSB: 2, 480-2 [by J.T. Gregory]. • Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition. • Imperatori, Dizionario di Italiani all'Estero, 1956. • ISIS, 1913-65: 1, 193. • Lambrecht & Quenstedt, Catalogus, 1938: 59. • Poggendorff: 1, col. 303. • Sarjeant, Geologists, 1980: 2, 621-2, Suppl. 1 (1986), 1, 314 & Suppl. 2 (1995), 1, 465. • WBI. • World Who's Who in Science: 245.

Trattato Mineralogico e Chimico, 1808

2 vols. [Vol 1] 8°: π³ [*]⁸ 2*-4*⁸ 1-18⁸ 19⁴; ??l.; [6], I-LXII, [2], 1-296 p., one folding table (p. 74, "Quadro | Delle Dimensioni dei Forni della Val-Trompia, e della Val Sabbia."). [Vol 2] 8°: [1]-22⁸; 176l.; [1]-352 p. Page size: 214 x 130 mm.

Contents: [Vol 1] [2 pgs], Title page, verso "Itum est in viscera terræ, | ovid."; [4 pgs], "Indice | Dei Capitoli." [=contents].; I-LXII, "Discourse Preliminaire."; [2 pgs], Blanks.; 1-296, Text.

[Vol 2] [1-2], Title page, verso blank.; 3-352, Text.

Very scarce. An extensive work on the iron works of Mella in Val Trompia near Brescia. It contains an historical section, an exposition of the methods of excavation, the fusion of the minerals and their treatment, followed by the descriptions of teh different varieties of iron and their chemical analyses. The last section deals with the geology of the region. The author was a pupil of Werner.

Bibliographical references: LKG: XIV 656. • Roller & Goodman, Catalogue, 1976: 1, 169. • Ward & Carozzi, Geology Emerging, 1984: no. 317. • Zittel, History of Geology, 1901: pp. 95-6.

2. Italian, 1811.
Memoria Mineralogica sulla valle di Fassa in Tirolo di G. Brocchi. Milano, G. Silvestri, 1811.

8°: 233 p. Very scarce.

Bibliographical references: LKG: XIV 265. • Ward & Carozzi, Geology Emerging, 1984: no. 318.

2 vols. [Vol 1] 4°: 56, lxxx, 240 p. [Vol 2] 4°: [4], 241-712 p., 16 plates.

Contents: [Vol 1] [2 pgs], Half title page, "Conchiologia Fossile | Subapennina," verso blank.; [2 pgs], Title page, verso two lines of quotation.; [1]-56, "Osservazioni Geologische."; [i]-lxxx, "Discurso | sui Progressi Dello Studio | Della | Conchilogia Fossile | In Italia."; [1]-240, Text.

[Vol 2]

Very scarce. A beautifully illustrated monograph being one of the fundamental works on the Tertiary paleontology and stratigraphy of Italy. After a long introduction the work continues with a summary of the progress of paleontological science in Italy from 1300 to 1810. This is followed by an account of the formation of the Apennines Mountains and the adjacent plains, in which the Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments are clearly distinguished and described. The second volume provides descriptions of shells from the Tertiary Epoch of the whole country, which is illustrated by sixteen masterly engraved plates. Of special interest are Brocchi's ideas on the extinction and the duration of existence of genera and species; he rejects the supposition of great catastrophs, and inclines to the theory of a steady and regular development.

Bibliographical references: LKG: XVII 153*. • Ward & Carozzi, Geology Emerging, 1984: no. 319.

2 vols. [Vol 1] 8°: [i]-xxiv, [1]-432 p. [Vol 2] 8°: [4], [1]-556 p., 16 plates.

Contents: [Vol 1] [i-ii], Half title page, verso blank.; [iii-iv], Title page, verso two lines of quotation.; v-vi, "Avviso."; [ix]-xxiv, "Notizie | Su La Vita E Su Le Opere | Dell'Autore."; [1]-425, Text.; [426]-430, "Indice."; [431]-432, "Indice | Delle Materie Contenute | Nel Volume Primo."

[Vol 2] [2 pgs], Sectional title page, verso blank.; [2 pgs], Title page, verso two lines of quotation.; [1]-534, Text.; [535]-554, "Indice Delle Materie."; [555]-556, "Indice | Delle Materie Contenute | Nel Volume Secondo."; [At end], 16 plates.

Rare. A reprinting of Brocchi's Conchilogia Fossile Subappennina (1814), incorporating a biography of the author, who had died more than two decades before.

Bibliographical references: BL. • NUC.

5. Italian, 1817.
Catalogo ragionato di una Raccolta di Rocce, disposto con ordine geografico. Per servire a Geognosia dell'Italia. Milano, I.R. Stamperia, 1817.

8°: xl, 346, [1] p. Very scarce.

Bibliographical references: Roller & Goodman, Catalogue, 1976: 1, 169.