THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES: BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR SENTIMENTS AND FOLK LORE, SUPERSTITIONS, SYMBOLISM, MYSTICISM, USE IN MEDICINE, PROTECTION, PREVENTION, RELIGION, AND DIVINATION. CRYSTAL GAZING, BIRTHSTONES, LUCKY STONES, AND TALISMANS. ASTRAL, ZODIACAL, AND PLANETARY.
Book Details + Condition: J.B. Lippincott Company (Philadelphia, PA). First Edition, 1913. Hardcover with beautifully decorated blue boards; white and gilt to upper board and spine. A luxurious first edition, with heavy, high-quality paper and crisp, bright plates. 391 pages. Features 86 b&w and color full-page photographic illustrations. Includes uncut pages - we cut the Contents pages ourselves. Scarce. A detailed volume by American mineralogist George Frederick Kunz on the many uses and qualities of stones. Contents include: The Use of Precious and Semi-precious Stones as Talismans and Amulets; Superstitions and Their Sources; The Talismanic Use of Special Stones; Engraved and Carved Gems as Talismans; Ominous and Luminous Stones; Crystal Balls and Crystal Gazing; Birth-stones; Planetary and Astral Influences of Precious Stones; Religious Uses of Precious Stones, Pagan, Hebrew and Christian; The Therapeutic Use of Precious and Semi-precious Stones; and more. A clean and firm copy of a beautiful and fascinating work, with tight binding; lightly rubbed corners; Oliver Collection ex-libris plate on inside front board; interior is clean and free of markings.
