corundum, assembled stones.8, gems

Cellini’s treatises provide a practical account of Renaissance goldsmithing and sculpture, describing the materials, tools, and techniques employed by a master craftsman. Of particular gemological interest are his discussions of jewelry manufacture, the setting and mounting of precious stones, enameling, casting, soldering, gilding, and the working of gold and silver, together with observations on diamonds and other gems and their use in elaborate ornaments. Cellini explains workshop procedures from the craftsman’s perspective, often illustrating them from his own experience, making the work an important primary source for the techniques used in sixteenth-century European jewelry and decorative metalwork. Ashbee’s English translation made Cellini’s technical writings accessible to an English-speaking audience and preserves valuable evidence for the close relationship between the Renaissance goldsmith, jeweler, sculptor, and gem worker.

gems, turquoise, Iran, Persia, Nishapur

A popular account of turquoise covering its historical use, folklore, mineral characteristics, and importance in jewelry, with particular attention to the Persian mines near Nishapur. Drawing extensively on A. Houtum Schindler’s report, the article describes the deposits, underground workings and surface diggings, mining hazards, and damage to stones caused by blasting. It discusses grading, cutting and polishing, prices, and the influence of color, size, shape, and the quality termed zât on value. Particular attention is given to color instability and the reported practice of keeping inferior stones damp to preserve their appearance before sale. The article also distinguishes turquoise from odontolite and glass imitations, reviews beliefs concerning its protective powers, and concludes with the reproduction of turquoise blue in ceramics. It provides a contemporary overview of Persian turquoise production and trade alongside nineteenth-century gemological knowledge.

corundum, Burma.12, gems

Laurie provides a historical account of British military and political relations with Burma, concentrating on the First Burmese War of 1824–1826 and the Second Burmese War of 1852–1853, while extending the narrative through subsequent events to 1879 and the early reign of King Theebaw. Drawing on official dispatches, military narratives, and contemporary accounts, he describes campaigns, battles, diplomacy, annexations, and the development of British administration in Arakan, Tenasserim, and Pegu. The later sections broaden the work beyond military history to include information on population, revenue, commerce, communications, and the trade routes linking Mandalay, Bhamo, Yunnan, and China, as well as an assessment of the economic and strategic value of Upper Burma. Although not principally a gemological work, it provides useful historical and commercial background for understanding Burma immediately before the British annexation of Upper Burma and the subsequent opening of the country’s important ruby and jade-producing regions to intensified European investigation and trade.

gems, diamond, corundum, ruby, sapphire, garnet, tourmaline, topaz, opal, turquoise, pearl

Hamlin presents a broad popular survey of gemstones, combining mineralogical information with historical accounts, legends, famous specimens, mining localities, cutting, valuation, and use in jewelry. He discusses diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, tourmalines, topaz, garnets, opals, turquoise, pearls, and numerous other ornamental materials, describing their physical properties, colors, geographical sources, and notable examples. Particular attention is given to American gemstones and mineral localities, including the tourmalines of Maine, a subject on which Hamlin had previously written extensively. The work blends contemporary gemological knowledge with anecdotes and historical lore and provides a useful late-nineteenth-century account of popular and commercial attitudes toward precious stones in the United States.

spinel, compass, lodestone, gems

Hamilton’s Catechism, originally printed in 1552 and here reprinted with an introduction by Thomas Graves Law, is a vernacular exposition of Roman Catholic doctrine prepared for the instruction of clergy and laity in Scotland immediately before the Reformation. It explains the Creed, sacraments, Ten Commandments, prayer, Christian conduct, and related matters of faith and practice. The work is primarily theological rather than mineralogical or gemological; its relevance to gemstone research lies in a passing reference on p. 28, preserved within a valuable sixteenth-century Scottish text and made accessible through Law’s nineteenth-century scholarly edition.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Brockhaus’ Conversations-Lexikon is a general German-language encyclopedia covering geography, history, biography, science, technology, literature, art, politics, and other fields of contemporary knowledge. Its mineralogical entries include descriptions of minerals and gemstones, their physical properties, composition, occurrence, uses, and terminology, reflecting late nineteenth-century scientific understanding. Entries relating to precious stones and ornamental materials provide a useful contemporary reference for German gemological and mineralogical nomenclature and for prevailing knowledge of their sources and characteristics.

corundum, history.1, properties.3, gems, Arabic mineralogy, early lapidaries

Wiedemann discusses Arabic determinations of specific gravity, drawing attention to measurements made by medieval Islamic scholars and comparing their results with modern values. He describes the methods used for determining the specific gravities of various substances, including minerals and precious stones, and demonstrates the considerable accuracy achieved by Arabic investigators. The paper is of particular interest to the history of gemology because specific gravity was employed to distinguish and characterize gemstones and other mineral substances, illustrating the sophistication of quantitative physical measurements in medieval Islamic science.

corundum, Burma.12, jade, jadeite, fei cui, gems

Mason and Theobald present an extensive natural history of Burma, with accounts of the peoples, fauna, flora, and mineral resources of Tenasserim, Pegu, and other parts of the country. Of particular gemological interest are the sections dealing with Burmese minerals and precious stones, including ruby, sapphire, spinel, jade, amber, and other materials, with notes on their occurrence, localities, mining, trade, and indigenous names and uses. The work brings together observations accumulated during the nineteenth century and provides valuable contemporary evidence on Burma’s mineral resources and gem-producing regions. Its descriptions of precious stones and their sources make it an important early reference for the history of Burmese gemology and mining.

corundum, ruby, sapphire, history.1, India.12, gems, Indian lapidary

Sinkankas: Richard von Garbe’s complete work is reproduced in facsimile, including the original title page, and centers on his discovery and translation of a significant Sanskrit treatise on minerals by the Kashmiri physician Narahari. Despite the general absence of Sanskrit monographs on minerals, Garbe uncovered Narahari’s work, a section of the larger encyclopedic text King of Dictionaries, written between 1235 and 1250 AD. The translated extracts are organized into three categories: metals, non-metals, and precious stones, the last of which spans pages 70 to 91 in the German edition. This section includes discussions on the nine classical gemstones of Indian tradition—ruby, pearl, coral, emerald, topaz, diamond, sapphire, hyacinth, and cat’s-eye—as well as other stones like rock crystal, sunstone, moonstone, lapis lazuli, and turquoise. Each entry provides Indian synonyms, medicinal uses, and notes on color and quality, along with astrological associations. Garbe relied extensively on Tagore’s Mani Mala, though he acknowledged its shortcomings and urged cautious use. His translation remains a valuable contribution to early Indian gemological literature and a crucial supplement to Tagore’s work.

gems, turquoise, Iran, Persia, Nishapur

Houtum-Schindler supplements Emil Tietze’s earlier survey of the mineral resources of Persia with observations gathered largely from his own travels, first treating individual mineral products and then giving a more detailed geological account of the country west of Zendjan. He records occurrences and, where available, mining methods, production, prices, trade, and local uses of alum, lead, borax, iron ores, edible and refractory clays, gold, gypsum, coal, kaolin, copper, magnesia, manganese, marble, naphtha, porphyry, mercury, rock salt, turquoise, silver, surmeh, and emery. Of particular gemological importance is his account of turquoise. In Kerman Province he notes several occurrences in northwest–southeast-trending volcanic ranges, including abandoned mines near Mo Aspan and Shehr-i Babek and recently discovered pale turquoise veins on the Cheheltan Mountains. At Nishapur he states that turquoise occurs in an iron-rich clay silicate containing microscopic grains of free quartz; the host rock changes from pale yellow near the surface to dark brown or blackish with depth. In 1876, 266 shafts were operating there, and production remained substantial: according to a Meshed turquoise merchant, material worth 240,000 marks annually went to Russia, 80,000 marks to Tehran, and another 80,000 marks was sold in Meshed, with additional exports to Constantinople, Baghdad, and the Persian Gulf. Houtum-Schindler also describes important gold occurrences, distinguishing gold-bearing iron-rich limestone at Kavend from barren quartz veins and documenting ancient workings and auriferous alluvium. His account west of Zendjan examines the relationships among limestones, green schists, granites, gneisses, volcanic rocks, conglomerates, gypsum, and mineralized veins, with observations on gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, alum, kaolin, mercury, and other resources. The paper combines economic mineralogy with field geology and provides unusually detailed evidence for the location, condition, exploitation, and commerce of Persian mineral deposits in the late nineteenth century.