 The first description of a procedure for isolating antimony is in the book De la pirotechnia of 1540 by Vannoccio Biringuccio ; this predates the more famous 1556 book by Agricola , De re metallica . In this context Agricola has been often incorrectly credited with the discovery of metallic antimony . The book Currus Triumphalis Antimonii ( The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony ) , describing the preparation of metallic antimony , was published in Germany in 1604 . It was purported to have been written by a Benedictine monk , writing under the name Basilius Valentinus , in the 15th century ; if it were authentic , which it is not , it would predate Biringuccio . 
