Lazarus Ercker (c. 1530 – 1594) was a Bohemian metallurgist and assay master of a mint near Prague who wrote some of the earliest known treatises on metallurgy entitled ''Beschreibung allerfürnemisten mineralischen Ertzt und Berckwercksarten'' (1574) and ''Münzbuch, wie es mit den Münzen gehalten sind'' (1563).

Life

Ercker was born at St. Annenberg ( Annaberg, Saxony) around 1530 and studied at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

between 1547 and 1548. Around 1554 he became an assayer at

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

through the patronage of

Elector Augustus Augustus (31 July 152611 February 1586) was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586. First years Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third (but second surviving) son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He co ...

with the influence of Johann Neese (a relative of his wife). In 1558 he became master of the mint at

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different p ...

for Prince Henry of Brunswick. In 1567 his wife died and he tried to return to Dresden. His brother-in-law Caspar Richter helped him get a job as a tester at Kutna Hora near Prague. His 1574 book ''Beschreibung allerfürnemisten mineralischen Ertzt und Berckwercksarten'' described the production of alloys and refining of several metals including silver, gold, copper, antimony, bismuth, tin, lead and mercury. It was in Ercker's book that the word "wolfram" is first used for a mineral found in Saxony which Ercker thought contained tin and the metal only much later identified as the element

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

. The book went through several editions and led to his appointment as courier for mining affairs under

Emperor Maximilian II Maximilian II (31 July 1527 – 12 October 1576) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 until his death in 1576. A member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, he was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on 14 May 1562 and elected King of Germany ( K ...

. Under

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hou ...

he became master of the mint in Prague and was knighted (and known as Lazarus Ercker von Schreckenfels) on 10 March 1586. The eighth edition of his book published in 1672 was retitled ''Aula subterranea alias Probierbuch''. Ercker's 1574 book was translated into English by Sir John Pettus as ''Fleta Minor'' in 1683 with the original woodcuts redrawn with some modifications. His book was also plagiarized by Georg Engelhardt von Löhneyss in his ''Bericht vom Bergwerck'' (1617).

References

External links

Fleta Minor by Sir John PettusScanned editions of Ercker's publication
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ercker, Lazarus German metallurgists 1530 births 1594 deaths Year of birth uncertain