Gems in Myth, Legend and Lore Revised Edition;

This comprehensive modern lapidary features gemological, historical, and metaphysical information about forty-six gems. Thousands of beliefs and uses have been collected and chronicled. 115 illustrations enhance this 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" reference. Folklore gathered from numerous cultures is given for each stone. Included is a new translation of Mandeville s fourteenth century Le Lapidaire, and hundreds of quotations from literature. All references to gems in the Bible, the Koran, Shakespeare s plays and poems, and the works of Chaucer, Emerson, Thomas Moore, and Sir Walter Scott are given. A translation of Marbode s eleventh century gem treatise is included, as well as references from Vedic texts. Additional features: crystal shapes and classifying gems, a history of gem literature, and a chapter on birthstones, planetary, and Apostolic stones. Gems in Myth, Legend, and Lore Revised Edition continues a tradition of gem literature spanning over two thousand years.