Robinson, Samuel; A Catalogue of American Minerals with their Localities

Robinson, Samuel; A Catalogue of American Minerals with their Localities; including all which are known to exist in the United States and British Provinces, and having the Town, Counties, and Districts, in each State and Province, arranged alphabetically; with an Appendix containing additional Localities. Boston, Cummings, Hilliard & Co. 1825. Large octavo, pp. 316.

The work is complete and in the original publisher’s brown boards, with the original paper spine label with black title. The binding is tight, boards and spine nicely restored, spine label with light wear. The text is clean, bright and uncut, penciled  note on pastedown, Albany Institute and their black oval rubber stamp on title page. In very good condition.

Robinson (1783-1827) was an American physician and mineralogist. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1812 and was a member of the American Geological Society. He is best known for his work “Catalogue of American Minerals…” published in 1825. The work was the first comprehensive catalog of American mineral localities and one of the earliest mineralogical treatises published in the United States.
Robinson had originally started compiling the geographical catalogue for his personal use but  soon realized the work would be a useful tool for other collectors. He compiled the localities after an exhausting search of the available literature. He pays a personal debt of gratitude to Parker Cleaveland’s Treatise on Mineralogy and TheAmerican Journal of Science. Robinson’s work was to remain the authoritative source on America’s mineral resources for many years..