gems, minerals, mineral collecting

Schmetzer traces the life and career of Jakob (Jacob) Frischholz (1778–1820), one of Bavaria’s earliest professional mineral dealers, who was also active as a mineral collector, stone cutter, engraver, inventor, and author. Originally from the Upper Palatinate, Frischholz studied at the Gymnasium and Electoral Lyceum in Amberg from 1799 to 1802 and by 1808 was established as a mineral dealer in Munich. In 1807 he developed a grinding machine for the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory, and he subsequently became involved in the discovery and description of several minerals and new mineral occurrences, frequently visiting localities and collecting specimens himself. He published on the minerals of the Seiser Alm and, in 1820, a book on the art of stone cutting. Frischholz also investigated the emerald occurrence in the Habachtal, Salzburg, visiting the locality several times and collecting emerald crystals; his detailed account of the deposit was published posthumously in 1821. From 1816 he was a member of the Herzogliche Societät für die gesamte Mineralogie zu Jena, founded in 1796 and regarded as the world’s oldest mineralogical society. After his early death in 1820, his widow Anna Frischholz (1778–1837) continued the Munich mineral business for several years.