Bauer, Max Hermann; Edelsteinkunde. EineAllgemeine Verstandliche Darstellung der Eigenschaften, des Vorkommens und der Verwendung der Edelsteine, nebst einer Anleitung zur Bestimmung derselben fur Mineralogy, Steinschleifer, Juweliere etc. Leipzig, Chr. Herm. Tauchnitz 1896. quarto, pp. xvi, 711, 20 fine plates, partly chromolithographed and tissue-guarded; 94 text engravings.
The work is complete and is in a later cloth binding with a calf spine label and gilt titles. The binding is tight and clean. The text is clean with light toning. Four of the colored plates have minor adhesion damage repaired. The damage is limited to the tissue overlay. This is a common occurrence in the the German edition. Over all a nice copy of the first edition.
Bauer (1844-1917) was a German mineralogist. He was educated at the University of Tübingen, with post graduate work in mineralogy at Univerisity of Berlin. Bauer earned a professorship of mineralogy and geology at Königsberg, Germany in 1875, before being named professor of mineralogy and petrology at the University of Marburg in 1884. He edited Beitrage zur Mineralogie and Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie from 1880 to 1891. Bauer was asked to write a comprehensive work on gemstones similar to Kunz’s Gems and Precious Stones of North America. This led to the publication of Edelsteinkunde and the later English translation “Precious Stones. The work is considered one of the greatest gemological works ever published with respects to the treatment of world gem localities and the scientific study of gemology. The text first treats gemstone properties, occurrences, application of gemstones to ornament and technology. The work then provides descriptions with data on properties, occurrences, uses, value and trade. Next a more in depth treatment of gemstone identification is provided.
