february

This full-color, beautifully illustrated book focuses on the amethysts of Catalan country in Uruguay. In both English and German, Amethyst Uruguay details the past 200 years of the mining of these precious purple stones and of the people and cultures involved in those operations. It also includes fascinating analysis of the geology and mineralogy of the amethyst. The highlight, of course, is a generous series of richly colored photographs of these beautiful gems. Author Reinhard Balzer collects and studies gems and minerals, with a particular interest in amethysts.

This pocket sized exhibition booklet contains a chronicle of the African American experience told through the unique lens of stamps and mail. At around 100 pages long, it is full of beautiful color illustrations of stamp art. The National Postal Museum's exhibition opened to the public in the middle of Black History Month 2015, and ended in the middle of Black History Month 2016. Museum visitors learned about letters carried by slaves, mail to and from civil rights leaders, and original artwork from the USPS Black Heritage stamp series.