Illustrierte Mineralogie
Esslingen und Munchen: J. F. Schreiber, [ca 1890]. 4to, pp. [8], 74, [4]; text in double column; 24 composite chromolithograph plates; original pictorial paper covered boards, backed in red cloth; endpapers renewed, else near fine. In 1858, Johann Gottlob Kurr published Das Mineralreich in Bildern, a very popular book that beautifully illustrated minerals on 25 color plates. After Kurr's death, Kenngott appropriated authorship and the result were ... four issues that contain essentially the same text. Variations on the title pages differentiate the various issues. Schuh's bibliography identifies 4 issues. This copy does not clearly conform to any of them but is closest to Issue A, with the line "erläuterndem Text zum Anschauungsunterrich" on one line rather than the two called for. (See Schuh, The Mineralogical Record online at mineralogicalrecord.com). "This stunningly illustrated book is the work of distinguished German mineralogist Gustav Adolph Kenngott (1818-1897). Particularly interested in crystallography, Kenngott was the first to describe enstatite, a rare green mineral which can be cut as a gemstone. This volume is a distillation of his work intended for 'the visual instruction of the young in school and with family'” (Smithsonian). Part of the Naturgeschichte des Tier-, Pflanzen- und Mineralreichs, erster Teil series. Item #58562
Price: $450.00
