gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A firsthand account of the 1639 expedition down the Amazon River by the Jesuit Cristóbal de Acuña, providing one of the earliest detailed European descriptions of the river and its surrounding lands. Acuña records the geography, tributaries, Indigenous peoples, settlements, customs, trade, natural products, and resources encountered along the route. Of particular gemological interest are reports of gold, silver, and precious stones said to occur in the Amazonian interior, reflecting early colonial interest in the mineral wealth of the region and the continuing search for rich sources of precious materials in South America.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, early gemology, early mineralogy, early lapidaries

Schuh: Very scarce. Compendium of all the author ever discovered or read about the subject of mineralogy. It was published posthumously from notes he left by his Order at Lyon six years after his death. Printed in a double column format in a relatively small type-size, the work is a vast storehouse of all things mineralogical, including new ideas, restatements of earlier authors, observations and superstitious belief. The uncritical selection of material led Webster in his Metallographia (London, 1671, p. 29) to criticize the author as too digressive and as mixing tares with the wheat. Partington thinks the use of the term ‘Mineralogia’ in the title is the first modern usage of the word… The work opens by listing the evils and benefits of mineralogy. Mining is considered dangerous because of the lurking underground spirits…the author notes that the study of mineralogy helps one to understand the bible. It provides medicines and money, ornaments for religious purposes, tools used in agriculture, industry, painting, music and alchemy. Cesi then answers the question he posed earlier and declares mineralogy to be a true philosophy, worthy of careful study… The numerous citations to earlier authors provide evidence of Cesi’s wide reading. Commonly, many authors are referenced on single points. For example, in describing the generation of minerals he closely follows Aristotle but also cites Theophrastus, Avicenna, Albertus Magnus, Agricola, Gregorius Reisch, Pliny, Boodt, Francis Rueus, Marbode, the Bible, and numerous church fathers. The author is uncritical of the views he presents, and accepts the authority of the ancient and medieval authors as his own. He believes that the Sun, Moon and stars influence the subterranean world of minerals and metals, and that gems have miraculous curative powers. He includes a chapter on the magnet… Cesi divides his work into five sections: the first treats mineralogy proper, the second the economic and commercial aspects, for example colors and pigments, the third, lapidifying juices of the earth that congeal into minerals, the fourth gems and the fifth metals. At the conclusion is a long and thankfully comprehensive index. Much insight about ancient philosophy and its affect in the 17th century can be gained from studying Cesi’s Mineralogia.”–Schuh, Mineralogy & Crystallography: A Biobibliography, 1469 to 1920, pp. 358-59.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A collection of medical observations, unusual cures, natural phenomena, and marvels compiled by Joachim Camerarius the Younger, arranged in “centuries,” or groups of one hundred accounts. Drawing upon medical experience, correspondence, earlier authorities, and reports of remarkable occurrences, the work ranges across medicine, pharmacology, natural history, and the mirabilia tradition. Of particular gemological interest are discussions of stones, minerals, and other unusual natural substances, including their supposed medicinal and occult properties, reflecting the close relationship between medicine, natural history, and lapidary lore in the seventeenth century.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A substantial Jesuit commentary on the Book of Revelation by Luis del Alcázar, devoted to uncovering its hidden or allegorical meaning through detailed analysis of its imagery, symbols, and biblical context. Alcázar interprets the Apocalypse largely in relation to the historical development of the Church rather than as a prediction of distant future events. Of particular gemological interest is his treatment of the precious stones of the foundations of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21, discussing their identities and symbolic meanings within Christian exegetical and lapidary traditions.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, early gemology, early mineralogy, early lapidary

An astrological and medico-alchemical treatise examining the supposed correspondences between the seven classical planets, the seven metals, and seven selected precious stones. Petrus discusses the “sympathies” linking celestial bodies with terrestrial substances and the influences these relationships were believed to exert upon their properties and medicinal or occult virtues. Of particular gemological interest is its treatment of gemstones within the early seventeenth-century tradition of planetary lapidaries, in which particular stones were associated with planets and credited with therapeutic, protective, or talismanic powers.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A major account of Inca history and culture by Garcilaso de la Vega, “El Inca,” the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman. Published in two parts, the first in 1609 and the second posthumously in 1617, the work describes Inca origins, rulers, religion, government, customs, conquests, agriculture, architecture, and material culture, drawing upon Garcilaso’s childhood memories, Indigenous oral traditions, and Spanish chronicles. Of particular gemological interest are accounts of Inca gold and silver, precious and ornamental stones, jewelry, ritual objects, temple treasures, mining, and the symbolic and economic uses of valuable materials in the Andean world.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A substantial medico-chemical and pharmaceutical compendium by Adrian von Mynsicht (Hadrianus a Mynsicht), presenting preparations and secret remedies for a wide range of diseases based on the author’s chemical experiments and medical practice. The work belongs to the Paracelsian tradition, combining pharmacy, medicine, alchemy, and early chemistry and describing numerous preparations made from vegetable, animal, and mineral substances. Of particular gemological interest is its treatment of minerals, metals, and stones as ingredients in medicines and chemical preparations. The volume concludes with the Testamentum Hadrianeum de Aureo Philosophorum Lapide, an alchemical treatise concerning the philosophers’ stone and the transmutation and perfection of metals.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, early gemology, early mineralogy

Andrea Cesalpino’s De metallicis libri tres is a late sixteenth-century treatise on minerals, metals, stones, and related substances, organized into three books. Cesalpino attempts a systematic classification of mineral bodies according to their observable properties and modes of formation, discussing metals, metallic minerals, earths, salts, stones, and precious stones within an Aristotelian framework. He considers such characteristics as color, transparency, hardness, density, cleavage, and response to heat, together with the geological environments in which mineral substances occur. Precious and ornamental stones receive significant attention, including diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, garnet, amethyst, opal, and others. The work is an important early contribution to systematic mineralogy, notable for its effort to classify minerals through physical characteristics and natural relationships rather than solely through their medicinal or magical properties.

gems, history of gemology, gem prices

The third volume of La Primaudaye’s encyclopedic Académie Française, presenting philosophical and moral discussions of the natural world, humanity, and divine creation. Written in the form of learned discourses, it draws upon classical, biblical, and contemporary authorities to examine natural phenomena and the properties of animals, plants, metals, minerals, and stones. Of particular gemological interest are discussions of precious stones, their origins, colors, physical properties, reputed virtues, and symbolic significance, reflecting Renaissance ideas derived from classical natural history and the lapidary tradition.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A widely read account of China compiled by the Spanish Augustinian Juan González de Mendoza from missionary reports, travel narratives, and other contemporary sources rather than from personal travel in China. The work describes the geography, government, cities, religion, customs, commerce, manufactures, natural products, and wealth of the Ming empire and played a major role in shaping late sixteenth-century European ideas about China. Of particular gemological interest are references to precious materials, luxury goods, jewelry, and mineral resources within Chinese trade and material culture.