The Mineral Kingdom

Johann Gottlob von Kurr (1798-1870), initially a pharmacist, earned doctorates in both medicine and surgery and subsequently became professor of mineralogy and botany at the Stuttgart Polytechnic Institute. First published in German as Das Mineralreich in Bildern (1858) and followed by numerous later editions and translations, this text is based on his own collection and is illustrated with 24 engraved plates depicting a total of 225 mineral specimens. The illustrations are brilliantly hand colored, sometimes with gilt and/or silver touches for the metallic characteristics of specific minerals, and made this a popular “coffee table book” in the mid-19th century, despite its highly technical subject.