Sweat or Inky Fingers?

According​ to Jeremias Drexel, who published a guide to notetaking in 1641, reading well was as effortful as goldmining – and potentially as enriching. His book, the Aurifodina, was illustrated with a frontispiece showing two kinds of work. On the left, miners raise picks high over their heads, chipping gold from the rock. On the right, a scholar bends over his desk, carefully selecting passages to copy. Both miner and scholar work under lanterns, in the depths, while garlanded allegories of learning stand barefoot in the daylight above.