gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A monumental publication of the archaeological expeditions conducted in Mexico by Captain Guillermo Dupaix in 1805, 1806 and 1807 under orders of the Spanish Crown. The work reproduces Dupaix’s descriptions of ancient Mexican monuments, especially those of Mitla and Palenque, together with the drawings of José Luciano Castañeda and a map of the regions explored. Additional essays by Alexandre Lenoir, David Baillie Warden and others compare Mexican antiquities with those of Egypt, India and the ancient world and discuss the origins of the Indigenous populations of the Americas. The atlas contains a large series of plates documenting architecture, sculpture, reliefs and other antiquities. The work is an important early source for the archaeological study of Mesoamerica and for the nineteenth-century European interpretation of ancient Mexican material culture.

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.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, turquoise, Mexico, Maya, Aztec, Olmec, greenstone

A monumental nine-volume publication devoted to the antiquities and pictorial manuscripts of pre-Columbian Mexico, assembled by Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough. The work reproduces in elaborate facsimile a number of major Mexican codices and other Indigenous manuscripts preserved in European collections, accompanied by historical, linguistic and antiquarian commentary drawn from colonial sources. Its contents document religion, calendrical systems, tribute, costume, warfare, ritual and material culture. Of particular relevance to gemological research are depictions and references to valued materials such as greenstone/jade, turquoise, gold and other ornaments used in elite and ceremonial contexts. Despite Kingsborough’s highly speculative interpretations, the volumes remain an important early source for the publication and study of Mesoamerican manuscripts and material culture.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A German translation of the seventeenth-century Mongolian chronicle commonly known as the Erdeni-yin Tobči(“Precious Summary”), composed by Ssanang Ssetsen Chungtaidschi of the Ordos Mongols. The work traces the history of the Mongols and their ruling houses from legendary origins through the era of Chinggis Khan and his successors to the seventeenth century, combining dynastic history, genealogy, Buddhist tradition and accounts of relations with Tibet and China. It is an important source for Mongolian historiography and for the political and religious history of Inner Asia. Its relevance to gemological research is secondary, chiefly through references to precious objects, royal gifts and material culture rather than any systematic discussion of gemstones.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A three-volume biography and narrative history of Christopher Columbus by Washington Irving, based on published accounts and archival materials consulted during Irving’s residence in Spain. The work recounts Columbus’s life, his four voyages across the Atlantic, encounters with Indigenous peoples, and the Spanish exploration and colonization of the Caribbean and adjacent regions. Of interest to gemological and economic history are repeated references to the search for gold, pearls and other valuable natural products, which figured prominently in European expectations of the newly encountered lands. Although written in a literary style and not regarded today as a fully reliable modern historical study, the work was highly influential in shaping nineteenth-century perceptions of Columbus and the early Spanish voyages.

gems, jade, nephrite, China, Mongols, Mongolia, large jade jar, Fischer

First edition in English of reputedly the first individually published Russian account of China, originally published in German as Reise nach Pekin (1825–6); Timkowski (1790–1875), “royal overseer” on the tenth Russian mission to Peking, where the Russian government had maintained a school and church since 1728, provides a notably detailed itinerary, especially regarding the section through the pass of Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) on the Mongolia–China border; according to the translator’s preface, the only earlier Russian travel account of China to be published was the journal of Lawrence Lange from the 1727 mission, which appeared only as part of Pallas’s Nordische Beiträge; the translator was Hannibal Evans Lloyd, who worked from the French edition published earlier the same year; Klaproth (1783–1835), an accomplished German orientalist and Caucasian language specialist, was also involved in the publication.

gems, corundum, quality.10, jade, nephrite, Mughal jade, Islamic jade, Fischer-Other

Bernier recounts his travels and experiences in the Mughal Empire between 1656 and 1668, during which he served for several years as a physician at the imperial court and observed at close hand the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. He gives a detailed eyewitness account of the struggle for succession among Shah Jahan’s sons, the defeat of Dara Shikoh, and Aurangzeb’s accession, together with descriptions of the imperial court, army, administration, taxation, landholding, cities, commerce, crafts, and social and religious customs. His journeys include extensive observations on Delhi, Agra, Bengal, and Kashmir, whose landscape and products he describes at length. Of particular gemological interest are Bernier’s observations on the enormous wealth of the Mughal court, including diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones displayed in imperial regalia and the celebrated Peacock Throne, as well as his discussion of the diamond mines and trade of Golconda. The work provides an important seventeenth-century European eyewitness account of the production, commerce, valuation, and conspicuous consumption of gems within the Mughal Empire.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

An early and exceptionally detailed description of colonial Brazil by the Portuguese settler Gabriel Soares de Sousa, written in 1587 and first printed in this form by the Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa in 1825. The work surveys the Brazilian coast and its settlements, with extensive observations on geography, Indigenous peoples, customs, agriculture, plants, animals, fisheries and natural resources, particularly the region of Bahia. Based largely on Sousa’s firsthand experience in Brazil, it is one of the most important sixteenth-century accounts of the country’s natural history and colonial society. Later editions are generally known under the title Tratado Descritivo do Brasil em 1587.

gems, jade, Chinese jade, nephrite, Chinese jade carving, Hotan, Khotan, Hetian, Fischer

The Royal Asiatic Society having determined to reprint occasionally papers which maybe considered of interest, or may contain useful information, and which, although in print, are not generally procurable in this country, have been pleased to select in the present instance a translation mude by me many years ago, and published anonymously in one of the periodical publications of the Calcutta press. At the time of its publication, the subject was entirely new. It has lost something of the gloss of novelty by the more comprehensive journals which have since appeared; but it still contains information regarding parts of Turkestan and Central Asia, which is not derivable from any better source, as the countries have not been visited in modern times by European travellers. In what has also ceased to be novel, the observations of the traveller are not without interest, as they relate to a political state of the countries traversed, which had undergone a change for the worse even when Izzet Ullah's steps were followed by Moorcroft and Trebeck. and which has become still further deteriorated by the anarchy that has so long distracted Afghanistan. The journal of Izzet Ullah is in most places little more than a mere itinerary, and it is so far more serviceable to geography than to history; but he occasionally extends his notes so as to furnish materials for the latter.

gems, jade, China

Sinkankas: Description of the rivers of Chinese Turkestan.” Five books, by Ying-ho, a learned Manchu officer, published in 1823, according to Stephen Wootton Bushell, “On jade in China,” 1900. This work gives an itinerary from Yarkand to the jade mines in the Mirtai Mountains of Turkestan, and also describes stations along the way, the “jade-fishing” camps, quarries, and the jades obtained from both types of deposits. RWH: The work referred to is now generally identified as: Xiyu Shuidao Ji 西域水道記 (Record of the Waterways of the Western Regions) compiled by Xu Song, with a preface by Yinghe. Older Western writers sometimes attributed the work directly to Ying-ho/Yinghe because of his association with the publication.