GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH MINERALS, By George L. English and David E. Jensen, Revised Edition, 363 pages, 9 1/4” X 6 1/4”, with several hundred b & w photos, crystal drawings, tables, sketches, diagrams, hard cover.  This is the classic what, where, when, why, and how book for the study of minerals.  In the classic 1^st edition, George English stated that “the aim of this book is to introduce the charming science of mineralogy in the simplest and most interesting manner possible, without sacrificing scientific accuracy.  No previous knowledge of chemistry, physics, or geometry is assumed, but every effort has been made to present, in an alluring manner, such facts and theories in these sciences as are essential to understanding of the mineralogical topics treated.”  In this revised and updated edition, the authors begin with chapters on why one would want to study minerals, how to collect minerals, specimen preparation, storage, and display, followed by data on hardness, tenacity,  and other physical properties.  The crystal systems are outlined and described in easy to understand language, followed by information on mineral cleavage, fracture, etc.  Separate chapters present data on fluorescence, as well as electrical and magnetic phenomena, and radioactive minerals, followed by several pages of data on gem cutting.  The central portion of the book has 150+ pages covering the descriptions, and other pertinent data, on a basic group of minerals selected by the authors for their importance to mineral collectors.  Several rare minerals, others which are of high economic importance, and others of interest as common rock-forming minerals, have also been included.  The object in selecting the minerals reviewed was to provide information which will be of value to mineral collectors, prospectors, miners, and visitors to mining regions.  For each mineral the chemical composition, crystal form, habit, color, luster, hardness, specific gravity, distinguishing features, occurrence, and uses are given.  The third chapter provides data on the three basic rock types, with descriptions and many interesting photos.  The determination tables include data on more than 200 minerals, listed by color, hardness, streak, luster.  The book is fully indexed by subject and mineral type.  This barely used copy is in excellent condition inside and outside, with very minor shelf wear.  Published by McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1958.
Order Item BK-2175
Shipping weight:  3 pounds
Price:  $35.00

 Two copies are available:

A.  As described above -- the inside text of this copy is in very good / like new condition, with the exception of some underlining in the first few chapters.  Inside the front cover there is some damage due to the blank pages being stuck together and then separated.  There is also an owner dedication, dated 1974.  The outside is in good condition, as shown in the accompanying photograph.
Order Item  BK-2180A
Shipping weight:  3 pounds
Price:  $40.

B.  As described above – this copy is in like new condition inside and outside.
Order Item BK-2180B
Shipping weight:  3 pounds
Price:  $50.

IL MONDO DEI CRISTALLI (“The World of Crystals”), By Vincenzo de Michele, of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy, 12” X 9”, 80 pages, pictorial hard cover.  While the text is in Italian, that should not pose a problem to the enjoyment of this book!  The author provides many excellent line drawings and crystal drawings to illustrate the basics of mineralogy.  The high point of this book, for any collector, are the 126 beautifully done, full color mineral photographs.  Many of the photographs are accompanied by crystal drawings so one can visualize the symmetry and perfection of the natural crystals, in comparison to the perfect forms illustrated in the crystal drawings.  Many of the very fine, photographed specimens are from the collection of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milano.  Most of specimens are from European localities, with emphasis placed upon classics from Italian collecting localities.  The book is in perfect, like new condition inside, with minor shelf wear to the cover.  Published by the Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara, Italy, 1967.
Order Item BK-2195
Shipping weight:  2 pounds
Price:  $25.00

INTRODUCTION TO MINERALOGY, CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, AND PETROLOGY, By Carl W. Correns, 485 pages, 10 X 6 1/2, hard cover.  Illustrations are numerous – black and white photos, line drawings, crystal drawings, and  tables.   The author, with more than 20 years of experience in teaching mineralogy, crystallography, petrology, and ore deposits, has done an amazing job of summarizing his lectures on the subjects and presenting the information in such a way that the beginning student of mineralogy will be able to understand the basic principles. This work is not intended to replace a systematic textbook. The author’s primary goal was to provide the fundamentals for a genetic consideration of crystals and rock types.  In order to provide space to deal with these questions, much information is presented as tables in the Appendix.  Data on approximately 300 minerals is included, plus 93 rock types, so as to give the student a sufficient survey of variety.  Chapters include: Crystal Mathematics. Crystal Chemistry, Crystal Physics, Crystal Growth and Dissolution, Some Physical-Chemical Fundamentals, Formation of Magmatic (Igneous) Rocks, Weathering and Soil Mineral Formation, Sedimentary Rocks, Metamorphic Petrogenesis, Geochemical Considerations, Crystallographic Tables, Summary of the Common Minerals and Their Properties, and Petrologic Tables.  Published by Springer-Verlag, New York, 1969.
Order Item # BK-2200
Shipping weight:  3 pounds
Price:  $45.00

MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE MINERALOGY AND BLOWPIPE ANALYSIS, by George Brush and Samuel Penfield, 16^th Edition, 9 1/4” X 6 3/8”, 312 pages, illustrated with more than 200 woodcuts, tables, line drawings and crystal drawings, hard cover.  This highly interesting 19^th Century mineralogical study manual has so much good, basic information on the study of mineralogy that it is difficult to believe this book is more than 100 years old!  This manual was based upon the highest scientific knowledge of the time, and included data from several earlier works on the subject, back to the early 1850’s.  The authors began with descriptions of what minerals and rocks are (inorganic), relative to animal and vegetable (organic) natural products.  The authors were both professors in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University – their classes must have been packed with the budding scientific minds of the latter part of the 19^th Century!  Chapters include data on apparatus and reagents, and chemical principles involved in their use, reactions of the elements, followed by a tabulated arrangement of the more important blowpipe and chemical reactions.  The next 80 pages cover the physical properties of minerals, including crystallization, luster, color, hardness, fusibility, and specific gravity.  One of the high points of this book are the 60 pages wherein the “Tables for the Determination of Mineral Species by Means of Simple Chemical Experiments in the Wet and Dry Way, and by Their Physical Properties” are given.  The authors devised a very concise system of identifying minerals based upon their chemical compositions, as well as their physical properties….very fascinating and illuminating reading!  The book is very thoroughly indexed by both subject matter, and by mineral names.  Considering its age (100+ years), this copy is in fairly good condition.  It is obvious the book was used extensively.  One of the previous owners has cut out and affixed to the inside front cover many questions and answers, of a scientific nature, that have been clipped from a scientific journal.  Several hand written lines of classroom notes have also been penciled inside the front cover.  Unfortunately the previous owner did not sign the book!  The cover is in moderately good condition, with obvious shelf wear.  The inside is in perfect condition, with normal yellowing of the pages as would be expected for a book of this vintage.  Published by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1898.
Order Item BK-2205
Shipping weight:  3 pounds
Price:  $70.00

MANUAL OF MINERALOGY, 20^TH Edition, Cornelis Klein and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., after J. D. Dana, 596 pages, 11 1/4” X 8 1/2”, with numerous photos and figures, 4 color plates, pictorial hard cover.  This is a modern textbook, designed to give students a one year course in the basics of mineralogy.  The authors have striven to achieve a balance between the coverage of concepts and principles on the one hand, and the more systematic and descriptive treatment of mineralogy on the other.  The unifying theme throughout the book is that of crystal chemistry – the elucidation of the relationship between chemical composition, internal structure, and physical properties of crystalline matter.  In the introductory chapter the authors cover the definition of a mineral, history of mineralogy, economic importance of minerals, naming of minerals, plus references and suggested reading.  The following chapters cover crystallography – external form and internal order, crystal chemistry and chemical composition of minerals, physical properties, x-ray crystallography, and optical properties of minerals.  The next four chapters cover systematic mineralogy by mineral classes (elements, sulfides, etc.).  The final two chapters deal with mineral associations – an introduction to petrology, and minerals used as gems.  There are three determinative tables – I. Arranged by physical properties, II. According to increasing specific gravity, and III. By increasing refractive index (nonopaque minerals only).  The mineral index (13 pages) at the back of the book gives each mineral’s name, followed by the chemical composition, crystal system, specific gravity, hardness, and index of refraction.  A very comprehensive subject index is also included.  The book is in like new condition inside, with a small amount of shelf wear evident on the cover.  Autographed by Cornelis Klein, one of the authors, on the title page.  Published by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1985. 
Order Item BK-2218
Shipping weight:  5 pounds
Price:  $30.00

MANUAL OF MINERALOGY AND LITHOLOGY, 3^rd Edition, containing the Elements of the Science of Minerals and Rocks, By James D. Dana, 7 3/4 X 5 1/2, 474 pages, cloth bound, 1881.  During this period in the study of minerals, the scientific minds of the day had a very good idea of what was factual, as compared to many of the older theories about minerals which could be grouped under what is now known as alchemy.  The book begins with a chapter on the crystallization of minerals, and incorporates drawings of snow crystals, as well as numerous crystal drawings of various habits of Pyrite crystals to illustrate the author’s general remarks on crystallization.  Woodcuts, illustrating both common as well as reflecting goniometers, are very well done.  The crystal systems are then individually discussed, and illustrations include many additional crystal drawings.  Physical properties of minerals are discussed, followed by chemical composition, then the classification and description of minerals.  Nearly 50 pages are devoted to lists of important American and foreign mineral and mining regions, accompanied by a 30 page Table for the Determination of Minerals.  Rock types are discussed in detail in the final chapter, including the use of the microscope in the study of rocks.  This book contains the hard science of the period, and it is interesting to read and compare the facts as known nearly 125 years ago, with the facts as we know them today.  The inside of the book is in excellent condition, with slight yellowing of the pages, as expected considering the book’s age.  The cover is also in very good condition, with some water marks.  Published by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1881.
Order Item # BK-2210
Shipping weight: 3 pounds
Price:  $150.00

A.

B.

MICROSCOPIC DETERMINATION OF THE ORE MINERALS, 2^nd Edition, By M. N. Short, 314 pages, 9 1/4” X 6”,  illustrated with tables, line drawings, and b & w photos, cloth bound.  This authoritative work is Bulletin 914, issued by the U.S. Government Printing Office.  In the introduction, the author states that the metallographic microscope is the most valuable instrument for identifying opaque minerals, and for studying their mutual relationships.  It plays the same part for the opaque minerals, that the petrographic microscope does for transparent minerals.  The author gives concise data on mounting specimens, grinding, and polishing methods developed by students at several renowned Eastern USA universities.  The chapter on photomicrography of polished sections gives data on cameras, films, exposures, as well as developing and printing.  Physical properties of minerals are given, as well as data on examination of opaque minerals in polarized light.  Etch reactions are discussed, and a determinative table is included, along with 60 pages of notes covering the reactions of most well known ore minerals.  Microchemical, qualitative analysis is covered in detail –100 pages cover procedures and apparatus, methods of testing, reagents, and results of tests for various elements.  The book is thoroughly indexed with a list of minerals, groped by elements, an alphabetical index of minerals and elements, and a general index.  In the back of the book, 14 plates are included (color, and b & W) – including photomicrographs of ores and polished sections, and microchemical tests for various elements. Published by the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1940.

Two copies are available:
 

A.  Hard cover copy in unused condition, inside and outside (!), with a previous owner’s name written inside the front cover. Order Item BK-2222A Shipping weight:  3 pounds Price:  $65.00
B.  Soft cover copy is in like new condition inside.   The previous owner’s name is written on the outside of the cover, and the cover is in worn condition.  Excellent reference copy! Order Item BK-2222B Shipping weight:  2 pounds Price:  $20.00 SOLD