2020 Essays

Tin and its Uses in Ms. Fr. 640

Buckley, James

This essay explores the author-practitioner’s knowledge of tin. It compares the discussion of tin and its properties in Ms. Fr. 640 to those found in contemporary works, such as Georgius Agricola’s De re metallica, Vannoccio Biringuccio’s Pirotechnia, and Lazarus Ercker’s Beschreibung allerfürnemisten mineralischen Ertzt und Berckwercksarten. Of particular interest are the author-practitioner’s qualifiers for tin, which include doux, fin, and aigre. A historical reconstruction of a recipe on fol. 6v for creating tin ornaments considers the author-practitioner’s tacit knowledge about metalworking and the social context for decorative tin objects.