gems, lapis lazuli, Afghanistan, history of gemology, gem trade, Central Asia, chemical analysis

The analysis of lapis lazuli made by Margraff has shewn that the blue colour of this stone is not owing to copper, as has commonly been thought, but that it arises from iron. But as we have not hitherto possessed any accurate analysis of this stone, I have thought it might be useful to examine it anew. In fact, Margraff informs us, that lime, gypsum, and silex, together with iron, are its component parts; but he does not determine their proportions; and his analysis is incomplete, as he does not mention the alumine which this stone also contains. According to Rinmann, the lapis lazuli contains lime, quartz, iron, and the acid of fluor. I have not found the latter; and it is probable that Rinmann’s opinion was grounded upon the phosphorescence of this stone when it is heated. Cronstedt and some others have affirmed that the lapis contains a quantity of silver, after the rate of two ounces per quintal. But my essays have afforded no certain indication of the presence of this metal. I selected for experiment a species of the lapis of a beautiful deep blue colour, and carefully separated the white and pyritous specks. This early chemical analysis of lapis lazuli by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, published in English translation in the *Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts*. Klaproth examines the composition of “Oriental” lapis lazuli using the analytical methods of late eighteenth-century chemistry, seeking to identify the substances responsible for the stone’s characteristic blue color and associated mineral components. The paper is important in the history of gemology and mineral chemistry because it represents one of the early systematic attempts to characterize lapis lazuli chemically rather than solely by appearance and traditional lapidary descriptions.

gems, spinel, history, balas ruby

An important chemical investigation of spinel by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, published in his Beiträge zur chemischen Kenntniss der Mineralkörper. Klaproth subjects spinel to quantitative chemical analysis in order to determine its constituent substances and clarify its mineralogical nature. The study belongs to his pioneering program of applying rigorous analytical chemistry to minerals, helping to replace classifications based primarily on color and external appearance with distinctions based on composition. Of particular importance to gemology, the work contributed to the scientific characterization of spinel as a distinct mineral at a time when red spinel and ruby had long been confused in both commercial and descriptive literature. It represents an important step in the chemical differentiation and modern classification of gemstones.

gems, glyptic, antique gems, engraved gems, rings

Spiegazione di una raccolta di gemme (“Explanation of a Collection of Gems”) is a book written by Luigi Bossi in 1795. This text is a detailed guide to the gem collection of Francesco Melzi d’Eril, an eighteenth-century Milanese nobleman. The book describes each individual gem in the collection with precision and detail, offering information on the physical and chemical properties of the precious stones, as well as on their history and artistic value. Bossi, a passionate gem enthusiast and an expert in mineralogy, wrote this work with the aim of sharing his knowledge and love of gems with the public. His writing is elegant and meticulous, and the book is considered an important work in the history of gemology and the history of art. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and annotations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world’s literature in affordable, high-quality modern editions that are faithful to the original work.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A multilingual natural-history dictionary compiled by Philipp Andreas Nemnich, designed to correlate the names of natural substances across numerous European and other languages. The work covers animals, plants and minerals, giving equivalent vernacular terms and variant names rather than serving primarily as a descriptive natural-history treatise. For gemological research, it is particularly useful for tracing historical names of gemstones, minerals and ornamental stones across different languages and identifying synonyms that appear in older scientific, commercial and lapidary literature. The Allgemeines Polyglotten-Lexicon der Naturgeschichte is therefore an important bibliographical and terminological aid for studying eighteenth-century mineral and gemstone nomenclature.

corundum, quality.10, crown jewels, France, gems

An official inventory of the French Crown’s diamonds, pearls, jewels, engraved stones, paintings and other objects preserved in the Garde-Meuble during the early years of the French Revolution. Compiled for the National Assembly by Jean-Marie Bion, Charles-Gabriel-Frédéric Christin and François-Pierre Delattre, the volume records the contents and valuations of the royal collections at a moment when Crown property was being documented as national property. Of particular gemological and jewelry-historical importance are the detailed listings of diamonds, pearls, mounted jewels and engraved gems, making the work a major primary source for the composition and value of the French Crown Jewels immediately before the famous theft from the Garde-Meuble in 1792.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, Natural history, Switzerland, Europe, Broken Bangle

A substantial essay on the classification of minerals, written by Albrecht Höpfner in the form of a letter to the mineralogist Dietrich Ludwig Gustav Karsten. Using the eighteenth-century term “fossils” for substances dug from the earth, Höpfner discusses principles for arranging and distinguishing mineral species and engages with contemporary systems of mineral classification. The paper is useful for understanding the transition from older descriptive schemes toward more systematic mineralogy based on observable properties and chemical composition. For gemological history, it provides context for how precious stones and related mineral substances were being incorporated into broader mineralogical classification at the end of the eighteenth century.

gems, jade, ruby, sapphire, spinel, Burma, Myanmar, Chinese trade with Burma

A local gazetteer of Yongchang Prefecture (永昌府), in western Yunnan, an important region on the routes connecting China with Burma and Southeast Asia. The work records the prefecture’s administrative geography, history, settlements, mountains and rivers, population, customs, products and other local information. Of particular gemological interest are its notices concerning jade and other valuable materials associated with the Yunnan–Burma trade, for which Yongchang was an important commercial and administrative center. The gazetteer is consequently a useful Qing-period source for studying the movement of Burmese jade and other commodities into southwestern China. Sun Laichen: Volumes 23, 25, and 26 of the 1785 edition by Xuan Shitao contain several memorials from Ming and Qing times that touch upon Ming- and Qing-Burmese relations, a number of poems and records by Ming poets regarding Burmese precious stones and other products, and a short account of a Burmese letter to the Ming during the late 16th century. Volumes 65 and 66 of the 1884 edition by Liu Yuke includes several other poems on Ming- and Qing-Burmese relations. There are altogether four editions of this work, and I have so far gained access to only the two mentioned above. The other two were compiled in 1702 and 1826, respectively.

corundum, history.1, gems, Arabic mineralogy, jade, Fischer, early lapidaries

A Latin scholarly edition presenting a description of, and selected extracts from, the Arabic gemstone treatise of Aḥmad al-Tīfāshī (Teifaschi), the thirteenth-century author of one of the most important medieval works on precious stones. The volume introduces al-Tīfāshī’s text to European readers and reproduces passages dealing with individual gems and precious materials, their names, properties, sources, qualities and uses. It is of particular importance to the history of gemology as an early printed European engagement with the Arabic lapidary tradition and as a conduit through which medieval Islamic knowledge of gemstones entered eighteenth-century Orientalist scholarship.

gems, early lapidaries, early gemology, early mineralogy, Orpheus, Peri Lithon, De Lapidibus

Sinkankas: Text in Greek and Latin. Recto: Περί Λίθων or De lapidibus appears on f.65–30 verso. According to Thorndike (ibid., p. 294), “the Lithica, representing Hermes, opens by bestowing upon mankind the precious lore of the marvelous virtues of gems… After this introduction… the virtues of the individual stones are described, first in the words of Theodamas, a wise and divine man whom the author meets on his way to perform annual sacrifice at an altar of the Sun… The virtues of a number of gems are attributed to Apollo rather than Hermes; and there are allusions to Greek mythology and the Trojan War. Some gems are found in animals, for instance, in the viper or the brain of the stag.” Thorndike then examines some of the stones and the magical powers attributed to them (pp. 294–297). He also notes Abel’s reproduction of the Greek text (see below), and the translation by C. W. King in The Natural History, Ancient and Modern, of Precious Stones and of Precious Metals, 1865, which he considers to be “a rather too free English verse translation.” See also Adams, The Birth and Development of the Geological Sciences, pp. 28–32; British Museum, Italian Books, p. 457; Brunet 3:1957; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, 2:239; STC, Class. See also the comments of F. D. Thomas Tyrwhitt was of the opinion that the original manuscript was composed before Constantine (306 AD) and not long after 364 AD.

gems, jade, Mesoamerican jade, Guatemala jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mayan jade, Mexico, Moctezuma, Fischer-Book

A history of ancient Mexico by the Jesuit scholar Francisco Saverio Clavigero (Francisco Javier Clavijero), written during his exile in Italy and based on Indigenous traditions, manuscripts and earlier Spanish accounts. The work describes the geography and natural history of Mexico, its peoples, government, religion, calendar, arts, agriculture, commerce and material culture before and during the Spanish conquest. Of gemological interest are Clavigero’s descriptions of Mexican stones and minerals and the use of valuable greenstones for ornaments and other objects. The work is particularly valuable for its systematic treatment of pre-Hispanic Mexican civilization and for Clavigero’s efforts to correct what he considered errors and prejudices in earlier European accounts.