gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Dezallier d’Argenville’s L’histoire naturelle éclaircie… l’oryctologie (1755) is an important mid-eighteenth-century treatise on what would later develop into mineralogy and geology. The work systematically describes and classifies earths, stones, metals, minerals, and other substances then grouped under the broad category of “fossils,” presenting parallel Latin and French terminology and discussing the principal earlier literature on the subject. Of particular gemological interest are its descriptions and classification of precious and ornamental stones, including diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, garnets, opals, agates, jaspers, rock crystal, and other lapidary materials, with attention to their physical appearance, varieties, localities, and contemporary nomenclature. The volume is also notable for its engraved plates, drawn by Hyacinthe Collin de Vermont and engraved by Pierre Quentin Chedel, illustrating minerals, crystals, fossils, and related natural-history specimens. It provides a valuable picture of European mineralogical and gemological knowledge immediately before the major advances in chemical mineralogy and crystallography of the later eighteenth century.