| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £6.95
Trade in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £6.95, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1915. Excerpt: ... flDn t^e Ctyerapeutfc OJge of $recfoug anD $>zmU HE medicinal use of precious stones may be traced back to very ancient times. It has been conjectured that their employment for such purposes was introduced to Europe from India, whence many of the stones were derived. Nevertheless, the earliest evidence we have rather points to Egypt as the source, and, indeed, it appears that in early Egyptian times the chemical constituents of the stones were much more rationally considered than at a later period in Europe. The Ebers Papyrus, for instance, recommends the use of certain astringent substances, such as lapis-lazuli, as ingredients of eyesalves, and hematite, an iron oxide, was used for checking hemorrhages and for reducing inflammations. Little by little, however, superstition associated certain special virtues with the color and quality of precious stones, and their virtues were thought to be greatly enhanced by engraving on them the image of some god, or of some object symbolizing certain of the activities of nature. Later still, the science of astrology, most highly developed in Assyria and Babylonia, was brought into combination with the various superstitions above indicated, so that the image was believed to have much greater efficacy if the engraving were executed when the sun was in a certain constellation or when the moon or some one of the planets was in the ascendant at the time. If we exclude certain fragmentary notices in Egyptian literature--notably the statements in the Ebers Papyrus--and the very uncertain sources in Hindu literature, the earliest authority for this branch of the subject is the Natural History of Pliny. In this connection, however, it is only just to call attention to a fact which has been often ignored--namely, that Pliny himself had very little fai...
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
FROM the earliest times in man's history gems and precious stones have been held in great esteem. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
FROM the earliest times in man's history gems and precious stones have been held in great esteem. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Geoge Frederick Kunz's contribution as a gemmologisy at the beginning of the century earned him universal fame and respect, even to the point that one the most popular stones in modern energy work is named after him: Kunzite. Dover has published a reprint of his 1913 monument to the "hidden" side of gems: The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. This 400 page volume contains a wealth of material based on medieval lapidary tomes, history, folklore,the Bible, the Eddas, archeological findings, and oral traditions still alive at the time of Kunz's writing. The casual or serious reader cannot help but be impressed by the depth of understanding Kunz deplayed in page after page of riches associated with all aspects of gems and their uses. Thank you, Dover, for allowing us access to this remarkable book.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is full of exciting little tit bits of folklore that has been lost over the years relating to gem stones and precious metals. Once you start reaading it's hard to put down. A good reference source book. A must for all jewellery student's.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Absolutely rubbish. Very difficult to read as apparently computer scanned!! Would have been nice to know and I wouldn't have bothered.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
