Anthracite Coal Communities

The Shelf2Life Mines and Mining Collection is a unique set of materials focusing on the operation of mines, the mining industry and mineralogy in the 19th and 20th centuries. From first-hand accounts of life in the mines to descriptions of mine construction, excavation methods and machinery, to mine taxation and determinative mineralogy, this collection reveals the science and culture of the thriving mining industry pre-1923. Illuminating the pages of these intriguing volumes are rock and mineral photographs and mineral classification tables including chemical tests and scientific experiments written during a period of significant expansion in the discipline of mineralogy. The Mines and Mining Collection unearths a period of early historical mining practices and related scientific discoveries of value to enthusiasts, students and mineralogists alike.