Michaelis Mercati Samminiatensis Metallotheca: Opus Posthumum, Auctoritate, & Munificentiâ Clementis Undecimi Pontificis Maximi E' tenebris in lucem eductum; Opera autem, & studio Joannis Mariae Lancisii Archiatri Pontificii Illustratum. Cui Accessit Appendix Cum XIX. Recens Inventis Iconibus
Metallotheca is a posthumous Latin catalogue of Vatican mineral and fossil specimens, edited by papal physician Giovanni Maria Lancisi and published in Rome in 1719 for scholars and collectors. Its engravings show rock and coral forms in plain black-and-white line, with dense hatching and stippling that give the specimens bulk and texture for a designer studying organic patterns.
