Schuh’s Annotated Bio-Bibliography

GERHARD, Carl Abraham.

(1738 – 1821)

(Born: Lerchenbrunn near Liegnitz, Germany, 26 February 1738; Died: Berlin, Germany, 9 March 1821) German physician.

Gerhard was an advisor on finance and war to the Prussian court in Berlin from 1786 onwards. He was also appointed commissary for the administration of mines and smelting works, becomining in 1779 councillor for mining. Gerhard was a member of the Academie der Wissenschaften in Berlin.

Biographical references: ADB. • Bielefeldt, Erika. "Carl Abraham Gerhard - ein Berliner Geologe der Aufklärung", Zeitschrift für geologischen Wissenschaften, 8 (1980), no. 2, 207-15, one illus. • DBA: I 383, 59-75; II 440, 369-374. • Hamberger & Meusel, Gelehrte Teutschland, 1796-1834. • Hirsch, Biographisches Lexikon, 1884-8. • Lambrecht & Quenstedt, Catalogus, 1938: 159. • Poggendorff: 1, cols. 880-1. • WBI.

1. Latin, 1760 [Dissertation].
Disquisitio physico-chymica granatorum Silesiæ atque Bohemiæ. Francofurti ad Viadrum, Typis J.C. Winter, [1760].

4°: 44 p.

Very scarce. Gerhard's dissertation[?]

Bibliographical references: BL [B.379.(7.)]. • LKG: XVI 289.

2 vols. [Vol 1: 1773] 8°: [6], 394 p., title vignette, one engraved folding plate of mineral specimens. [Vol 2: 1776] 8°: [4], 300 p., 5 large folding plates of apparatus.

Very scarce. First edition of this scarce encyclopaedia of all known minerals and a comprehensive treatise of mineralogy. - Carl Abraham Gerhard (1738-1821) was the founder and professor of mineralogy and mining sciences at the Berlin Mining Academy (Berliner Bergakademie). He rose to privy councillor for finance, war, and crown lands in Prussia and later became commissary for the administration of mines and smelting works and was appointed councillor for mining in 1779. A member of many scientific societies, Gerhard wrote chiefly on mineralogy, but he also considered geology, medicine, botany, natural history, and chemistry. He devised in 1786 a new mineralogical system, outlined in Grundiss des Mineralsystems zu Vorlesungen in which he stressed chemical composition. - A polymath and a collector, Gerhard built an important collection of minerals and other curiosities of nature. These were deposited in the Academy in 1781 in return for a pension. They formed the core of the Academy's holdings, were extensively used, and were generously supplemented by other collectors. Today, his minerals and his archive are preserved in the Berlin Institute for Mineralogy.

Bibliographical references: Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek: 23, 285 & 31, 249. • Beckmann P.Ö.B.: 7, 588. • BL [1034.k.12.]. • Freilich Sale Catalog: no. 205. • Gatterer, Mineralogischen Literatur, 1798-9: 1, 285. • Hoover Collection: no. 343. • LKG: VI 54.

3. German, 1779.
Beobachtungen und Muthmassungen über den Granit und über den Gneiss. Berlin, C.F. Himburg, 1779.

8°: 55 p.

Very scarce. Published anonymously. Deals with the origins of granite and gneiss, a subject that caused controversy between Buffon, Breislak, Hutton and Werner, and their respective followers from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century.

Bibliographical references: Hoover Collection: no. 344. • LKG: XIII 143. • NUC [no copy listed].

2 vols. [Vol 1: 1781] 8°: [i]-xxxx, 302 p., title vignette, 10 plates (folding; 7 hand-colored). [Vol 2: 1782] 8°: viii, 424 p.

Scarce. Volume one provides descriptions of the properties of minerals, theories on the internal structure of the earth, techniques for locating mineral veins, etc. Volume two explains Gerhard's system of mineral classification, which was based on the previous systems of Bergman, Born, Werner, Wallerius and Cronstedt. Following this is a descriptive mineralogy listing the minerals according to Gerhard's classification.

Bibliographical references: Adams, Birth and Development, 1938: p. 315. • Beckmann P.Ö.B.: 11, 458. • BL [990.f.17.]. • Ferguson, Bibliotheca Chemica, 1906: 1, 311. • Freilich Sale Catalog: no. 206. • Gatterer, Mineralogischen Literatur, 1798-9: 1, 28. • Jonathan Hill, Bookseller: cat. 28, no. 49. • LKG: XII 84.

5. Russian, 1790 [Russian transl.].
Opyt poviesti o tsarstvie iskopaemykh K.A. Gergarda, Korolevskago Prusskago Tainago gornago Sovietnika, Korolevskoi Berlinskoi Akademii Nauk i Rimsko-Imperatorskoi Akademii ispytatelei prirody, Frankfurtskago Obshchestva liubiashchikh nauki, Rossiiskago Imperatorskavo Vol'nago Ekonomicheskago Obshchestva, Shlezskago Patrioticheskago Ekonomicheskago i Gallskago Obshchestva ispytyvaiushchikh prirodu, Chlena; s 10 chertezhami; perevedena s Niemetskago E.B.D.M. Sanktpeterburg : pri Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk, 1790.

8°: xix, 264, 11 p. Very scarce.

Bibliographical references: Svodnyi Katalog Russkoi Knigi: no. 1395.

6. German, 1788.
D. Carl Abraham Gerhard, Königl. Preussl. Geheimer Ober- ... Rath ... Abhandlung über die Umwandlung und über den Uebergang einer Erd- und Stein-Art in die andere. Berlin, Bei Wilhelm Vieweg dem Jüngern, 1788.

8°: [2], 129 p., engraved title vignette.

Very scarce. Concerns the effects of heat on various minerals, stones and soils.

Bibliographical references: BL [973.a.17.]. • LKG: XIII 143a*. • NUC [no copy listed].

Grundriss des Mineralsystems, 1786

8°: π⁴ A-T⁸ U⁶; 162l.; [8], [1]-310, [2] blank, [4] p., one folding table. Page size: 202 x 115 mm.

Contents: [2 pgs], Title page, verso blank.; [6 pgs], "Vorrede."; [1]-310, Text.; [2 pgs], Blanks.; [4 pgs], "Inhalt."; [At end], One folding table.

Very scarce. This is Gerhard's introduction to his new mineralogical system. After a short introduction that provides definitions and an overview of the classification system, the descriptive mineralogy is presented. This system divides the minerals into four classes: Earths and Stones, Salts, Inflammable Minerals and Metals. It is based in part on the theories of Werner and it stresses the chemical composition of a mineral species to determine its placement within the classification. Three appendices follow the descriptive mineralogy. The first on pages 281-287 deals with newly discovered species and those minerals not yet fully described. The second on pages 287-291 covers petrifications and fossils, while the third pages 291-310 is concerned with volcanic ejecta and basalt. The folding table at the end provides a general list of physical properties for various mineral groups.

Bibliographical references: Beekman, Systematische Mineralogie, 1906: 92-3. • BL [970.i.8.]. • Ferguson, Bibliotheca Chemica, 1906: 1, 311. • Freilich Sale Catalog: no. 207. • LKG: XII 85a.

8. German, 1797 [2nd edition].
Grundriss eines neuen Mineralsystems ... Erste Theil. Berlin, W. Vieweg, 1797.

8°: xviii, 438 p.

Very scarce. No other parts published. An enhanced edition of Grundriss des Mineralsystems zu Vorlesungen. (1786).

Bibliographical references: Ferguson, Bibliotheca Chemica, 1906: 1, p. 311. • Gatterer, Mineralogischen Literatur, 1798-9: 1, 31. • Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen: July, 1797, 1120 ["Sehr gut"]. • LKG: XII 86b. • Roller & Goodman, Catalogue, 1976: 1, 454.

9. German, 1803.
Abhandlungen über technologische, mineralogische und Finaux-Gegenstande ... Berlin, 1803.

8°: Very scarce.

Bibliographical references: BL. • LKG: VI 55a.

10. German, 1779.
Beobachtungen und Muthmaßungen über den Granit und über den Gneiß. Berlin, Himburg, 1779.

8°: 55 p., title page woodcut vignette.

Very scarce. Erste Ausgabe dieser seltenen mineralogischen Schrift. - Holzmann-B. VI, 2258. - Der schlesische Bergbeamte und Mineraloge C. A. Gerhard (1738-1821) schuf im Auftrag Friedrich des Großen 1770 nach Freiberger Vorbild die Bergakademie Berlin, als deren Leiter er selbst mineralogischen und bergwerkswissenschaftlichen Unterricht erteilte. Er galt als " ausgezeichneter Kenner des Bergbaues " (NDB VI, 275). - Leicht gebräunt und etw. stockfleckig.