travel, India, Asia, gems

Foster’s edition of The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul, 1615–1619 presents Roe’s journal and correspondence from his mission as ambassador of James I to the Mughal emperor Jahangir. The narrative records Roe’s travels in India, his experiences at the imperial court, negotiations concerning English commercial privileges, and his observations of Mughal government, ceremonies, society, and trade. Of particular gemological interest are his descriptions of Jahangir’s court and treasury, where precious stones, pearls, jeweled weapons, ornaments, and lavish imperial gifts figured prominently in displays of wealth and authority. Roe records exchanges of jewels and other valuables, comments on their appraisal and desirability, and provides firsthand evidence for the importance of gems within Mughal diplomatic and court culture. Foster supplements the seventeenth-century documents with an introduction and extensive notes identifying people, places, events, and historical circumstances, making the two-volume edition an important primary source for the study of Mughal India and its commerce in precious objects.

corundum, Burma.12, India.12, Thailand.12, England, Persia, gems

Ryley reconstructs the life and travels of Ralph Fitch, one of the earliest English merchants to journey extensively through India and Burma, placing Fitch’s own sixteenth-century narrative within a biographical and historical account of his companions and contemporaries. Fitch left England in 1583 and travelled through the eastern Mediterranean and Persian Gulf to India, visiting Portuguese Goa, the Mughal territories, Bengal, Pegu in Burma, and other commercial centers before returning to England in 1591. His observations provide early English evidence for Asian trade, commodities, cities, courts, religious practices, and commercial routes shortly before the foundation of the English East India Company. Of particular gemological interest, [172–173] describe Pegu and its commerce, including the trade in rubies, sapphires, and spinels and the importance of precious stones among the valuable commodities associated with Burma. Ryley supplements Fitch’s narrative with explanatory notes and historical material, making the volume a useful source for the early European history of the Burmese gemstone trade.

jade, nephrite, China, Xinjiang, Khotan, gems

Hedin’s Through Asia recounts his extensive travels of 1893–1897 through Russian Turkestan, the Pamirs, the Tarim Basin, the Taklamakan Desert, and adjoining regions of Chinese Central Asia. Combining travel narrative with geographical and scientific observation, he describes journeys through Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, and other Central Asian centers, hazardous desert crossings, exploration of rivers and lakes, mountain routes, settlements, peoples, trade, and political conditions. His observations provide detailed information on the geography and ethnography of regions then imperfectly known to Europeans. Of particular gemological interest are his visits to the Khotan region and references to its celebrated jade industry, including the recovery of nephrite from rivers and mountain deposits and its importance in local commerce and trade with China. The two volumes, extensively illustrated and supplied with maps, established Hedin as one of the foremost European explorers of Central Asia and provide valuable contemporary observations on the traditional jade-producing districts of Chinese Turkestan.

corundum, Laos.12, Vietnam.12, gems

Bel provides a firsthand survey of the mineral resources known in central Indochina in 1897, based largely on his scientific and industrial missions of 1893, 1895, and 1897. Of particular gemological interest is his account of the ruby and sapphire deposits of eastern Siam. In the Chantaboun massif, an English company had for several years worked the region’s precious stones, principally rubies with some sapphires; Bel states that the gems of Chantaboun were reported to be of mediocre quality, although he had not personally visited the deposits. [391–392] Near Luang Prabang, he reports additional precious-stone deposits, particularly sapphires, noting that Auguste Pavie had shown him fine specimens obtained following his mission in Upper Laos. [392] Bel concludes that the mountainous divide between the Menam and Mekong offered considerable scope for further exploration and might contain precious stones of good value. [392–393] Elsewhere he notes the possibility of gems in Cambodia, although the region remained unexplored. [394] The paper also gives extensive firsthand information on gold deposits and mining in Siam, Lower Laos, the Khas country, and Annam, together with occurrences of silver-bearing galena, copper, iron, coal, and tin, providing a valuable contemporary overview of mineral exploration in mainland Southeast Asia at the end of the nineteenth century. [384–407]

corundum, USA.12, North Carolina.12, Montana.12, gems, synthetic corundum.7, Thailand.12, Burma.12, x-rays

Kunz surveys developments in precious stones during 1896, beginning with notable discoveries and events of the year and then treating diamonds in considerable detail, including American occurrences, the South African mines and their production, mining methods, trade, cutting, import duties, and the growing diamond-cutting industry in the United States. He discusses the occurrence and artificial production of ruby, with descriptions of the ruby mines of Siam and Burma, and gives particular attention to new sapphire discoveries in Montana, including the Yogo/Fergus County deposits. Other sections record American occurrences of andalusite, kyanite, tourmaline, turquoise, garnet, quartz and rock crystal, amethyst, chrysoprase, chalcedony, plasma, moss agate, and opal, together with new mineral discoveries. Kunz also discusses gem collections and exhibitions, experiments on the behavior of gems under Röntgen rays, and contemporary work on artificial production of precious stones. The report concludes with statistical tables of United States gem production, valued at $113,621 for 1896, historical production figures, and imports of diamonds and other precious stones, providing a detailed picture of both the scientific and commercial state of gemology at the end of the nineteenth century.

corundum, Sri Lanka.12, gems

Ravenstein’s translation of the Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes presents the sixth-century account of a merchant and traveler who had extensive knowledge of the Red Sea, northeastern Africa, Arabia, India, and the Indian Ocean trade. Although primarily a Christian cosmographical and theological work, it contains valuable geographical and commercial information derived from Cosmas’s travels and mercantile experience. Of particular gemological interest are his references to precious stones and their sources and trade, including sapphires associated with Ceylon (Taprobane), which he describes as an important entrepôt receiving merchandise from India, Persia, Ethiopia, and other regions and redistributing it through the Indian Ocean trading network. Cosmas also records products such as pearls, spices, silk, and other valuable commodities and provides evidence for the extensive maritime commerce connecting the Mediterranean and Red Sea worlds with India and Ceylon in late antiquity. Ravenstein’s edition includes an introduction, notes, and geographical commentary that place Cosmas’s observations within the historical geography of early Indian Ocean trade.

corundum, quality.10, gems

Smith’s Gems and Precious Stones, published as No. 11 of the Technical Education Series of the New South Wales Department of Public Instruction, is a practical introductory handbook devoted to the identification and properties of gemstones. Its full title, Gems and Precious Stones: With Descriptions of Their Distinctive Properties, the Methods for Determining Them, &c., reflects its emphasis on distinguishing gem materials by observable and measurable characteristics. Smith treats the principal precious and ornamental stones and explains the properties used in their determination, providing a concise guide intended for students, collectors, jewelers, and others requiring a practical introduction to gem identification. Published in Sydney by Charles Potter, Government Printer, the work is significant as an early Australian gemological manual and as part of the colony’s program of technical education.

jade, nephrite, Khotan, Hotan, Chinese jade, Xinjiang, gems

Lansdell recounts an extensive journey through Russian and Chinese Central Asia to the western approaches of Tibet, combining personal travel narrative with geographical, ethnographic, historical, and commercial observations. His route takes him through the Russian Turkestan region and across Chinese Turkestan, including Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan, before reaching the high country toward Ladakh and “Little Tibet.” He describes local peoples, religions, agriculture, markets, communications, political conditions, and natural resources, drawing upon both firsthand observations and contemporary geographical literature. Of particular gemological interest is his account of Khotan and its celebrated jade industry, including the collection of nephrite from the rivers and the extraction of material from the surrounding mountains, its preparation and trade, and its importance as a commodity exported eastward to China. The work provides a valuable late nineteenth-century description of the traditional Khotan jade-producing region and the Central Asian trade routes through which its nephrite circulated.

corundum, USA.12, Georgia.12, gems

King presents a detailed study of the corundum deposits of Georgia, describing their geographic distribution, geological occurrence, mineral associations, mining, and economic prospects. He examines the principal corundum localities along the crystalline belt of northern Georgia and describes deposits associated particularly with peridotite and related altered rocks, recording the character, size, color, and quality of the corundum found at individual workings. The report discusses prospecting and mining methods, preparation of corundum for abrasive use, production and markets, and the factors affecting the commercial value of deposits. King also records accessory minerals and varieties of corundum encountered in the field, including material of potential gemological interest, although the industry was directed principally toward supplying corundum as an abrasive. The bulletin provides an important late nineteenth-century account of the geology and exploitation of one of the principal corundum-producing regions of the United States. Contains a good history of corundum.

gems, early lapidaries, Greek, Roman, history of gemology

Mély examines ancient lapidary literature in relation to the inscribed stone stamps used by Greco-Roman oculists for marking medicinal preparations. By comparing the names and supposed properties of mineral substances recorded in medical and lapidary texts with the inscriptions preserved on these oculists’ stamps, he attempts to clarify obscure terminology and trace the transmission of mineral-based medical recipes from Antiquity into the early Middle Ages. The study is particularly relevant to the history of gemstones and mineralogy because it treats ancient stone names not simply as literary curiosities but as part of practical pharmacological traditions, illustrating the close historical relationship between lapidaries, medicine, and materia medica.