corundum, ruby, sapphire, India.12, gems, diamond

Surveys the mineral resources of southern India, describing the occurrence, geological setting, working, and economic importance of a wide range of ores and minerals. Newbold discusses metals, industrial minerals, and precious materials from several districts, drawing on field observations and contemporary mining information. Of particular gemological interest are pp. 153–154, where he treats corundum and related occurrences, contributing to the early documentation of southern India’s gem and abrasive mineral resources.

gems, turquoise, chemstry

Reports a chemical analysis of oriental turquoise undertaken to determine its composition and clarify its mineralogical character. Hermann examines the proportions of its principal constituents and discusses the relationship between its chemical composition and that of other phosphatic minerals. The paper is of particular gemological interest as an early quantitative chemical investigation of turquoise and part of the nineteenth-century effort to establish the true chemical nature of this important ornamental gemstone.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, nephrite chemical analysis

Reports Rammelsberg’s chemical analysis of nephrite from Turkey, presented in his review of the chemical aspects of mineralogy. The analysis concerns the composition of the material then identified as nephrite and its relationship to other mineral species with similar physical properties. The brief notice is of particular gemological interest as an early chemical investigation of nephrite from a locality outside the better-known Asian sources and as part of nineteenth-century efforts to establish the mineralogical identity and composition of jade materials.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Examines the geological structure of the Trans-Ural region of northern Asia in relation to its extensive gold deposits. Erman discusses the mountain systems, rock formations, alluvial deposits, and geological circumstances associated with the occurrence of gold, drawing on observations made during his travels across Siberia. Of particular gemological interest are pp. 154–155, where he discusses gemstones occurring in association with the gold-bearing deposits, including their localities and geological setting.

corundum, History.1, gems

An English translation of selected portions of al-Masʿūdī’s tenth-century historical and geographical work Murūj al-dhahab wa-maʿādin al-jawhar (Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems). The work ranges widely over history, geography, peoples, religions, natural history, trade, and the marvels of different regions of the known world, drawing upon both written authorities and al-Masʿūdī’s extensive travels. Of particular interest to gemology are references to mines, precious metals, pearls, gemstones, their geographic sources, and the commerce through which valuable materials circulated between India, the Middle East, Africa, and the Mediterranean world.

corundum, chemistry.2, gems

Rose investigates methods for chemically decomposing naturally occurring aluminates, minerals that can resist conventional analytical procedures. Particular attention is given to spinel and related compounds, examining their behavior during fusion and treatment with acids and other reagents as a means of separating and determining their constituent oxides. The paper is of gemological interest for its early analytical treatment of spinel and for the development of reliable methods for determining the chemical composition of refractory aluminium-bearing minerals.

gems, Ceylon, Sri Lanka, travel

Ruschenberger’s travel narrative includes observations on Ceylon, with brief attention to the island’s gemstones and gem trade. He notes the occurrence and commerce of precious stones and describes visits and encounters made during his travels, placing gems within a broader account of Ceylon’s natural products, economy, and society. The work is primarily a travel narrative rather than a mineralogical study, and its gemological information is incidental.

general gemology, gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Sinkankas: The first monograph on gemstones published in the United States and an excellent one at that. In the testimonial letter, James Renwick (1792–1863), LLD, professor of chemistry & physics in Columbia College, noted that “in reference to the native minerals and rocks of the United States, that I conceive your treatise to be most likely to be eminently useful.” In his Gems and Precious Stones of North America, the eventual successor to Feuchtwanger, published in 1890, G.F. Kunz notes that “Dr. Lewis Feuchtwanger, of New York, was, in 1838, an authority on precious stones, and his book was one of the first to be written on the subject in the United States. During his long residence in this country, he made an interesting and valuable collection of minerals, fossils, and gems, many of the latter being fine specimens, but it has not been sold, and is in the possession of his daughters. Moving has greatly damaged this collection, which originally included nearly 900 specimens; it was placed on sale in 1874, and for a time was deposited in the American Museum of Natural History in New York” (p. 322). In regard to the priority of Feuchtwanger’s book, I have not found any published earlier and unlike Kunz, conclude that it is the first. The text begins with general gemology: properties, chemistry, geology, geographical distribution, enhancement of color, gem setting, cleaning of gems, imitations, commerce, and gems used in optical applications. The second part considers individual gemstones and ornamental materials beginning with the diamond and working through the major and minor species into such rarities as natrolite, apatite, pyrite, and numerous ornamental stones. Feuchtwanger took special care to record as much information as he could find on native gemstones and the localities that furnished them, and while some localities were previously recorded by Samuel Robinson in his Catalogue of American Minerals, 1825, these were treated very briefly and without amplifying details such as characterizes Feuchtwanger’s treatment. Another “first” of the present work is the extended description of pearls, artificial pearls, and corals, but nothing was said about the freshwater pearls of the United States which apparently were largely unknown at the time. As alluded to in Renwick’s letter, Feuchtwanger’s writing sometimes borders on the quaint, but all of it is easily followed and forms much pleasant as well as informative reading. Very rare.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A vast illustrated French series devoted to the history, geography, peoples and cultures of the world. Published by Firmin Didot from the mid-nineteenth century, L’Univers pittoresque was divided geographically into sections on Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania and comprised dozens of separately authored volumes. The series combines historical narrative with descriptions of geography, religion, customs, dress, industries, monuments, natural resources and material culture, accompanied by thousands of engraved illustrations. For gemological research, individual volumes are useful for references to regional minerals, precious stones, jewelry, mining and decorative arts, although the content and authority vary according to the individual author. Contemporary bibliographies commonly describe the complete series as 67 volumes, though some sets and catalogues count the parts differently.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A short scholarly notice by Johann Andreas Schmeller on the fourteenth-century German writer Konrad von Megenbergand the state of natural-history knowledge in medieval Germany. Schmeller discusses Konrad’s life and writings, particularly his Buch der Natur, one of the earliest substantial natural-history works in the German language, and considers its place in the transmission of medieval scientific knowledge to a vernacular audience. Of particular interest to gemological history is Konrad’s treatment of stones and minerals, which preserves medieval descriptions, names and traditional properties of precious stones derived largely from earlier Latin authorities. Schmeller’s paper is valuable for the nineteenth-century rediscovery and study of this important medieval natural-history text.