Mineral Kingdom Journal — Dr. A. Schleyer 1935 Mineralogie Chromolithograph

There is a particular challenge in illustrating minerals — a butterfly can be pinned and drawn, a plant pressed and painted, but a mineral specimen with its metallic lustre, crystalline geometry, and play of light across faceted surfaces resists the illustrator's hand in ways that other natural history subjects do not. In the chromolithographic plates of Dr. A. Schleyer's Mineralogie, published in 1935 as part of Das Naturreich in Bildern, something remarkable was achieved: thirty plates with hand-applied metallic finishes that rendered the mineral kingdom with a precision and visual richness that photography of the era could not match. The front cover carries Tafel V — pyrite in its classic pyritohedron form, marcasite in cockscomb orthorhombic crystals, cobaltite in silver-white metallic habit, nickeline in its characteristic copper-red, and arsenopyrite in sharp wedge-shaped monoclinic prisms; the back carries Tafel IV — sphalerite in resinous honey-yellow forms, galena in brilliant lead-grey cubes with perfect cubic cleavage, and three distinct forms of cinnabar in vivid scarlet and brick-red — the only major ore of mercury, historically prized as the pigment vermilion.

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Product Details

• Format: Hardcover journal with matte laminated full-wrap cover
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal
• Binding: Casewrap sewn binding — flexible and lay-flat
• Dimensions: 5.75 × 8 inches
• Weight: 250 g (0.55 lbs)
• Cover: Matte laminated full-wrap print

Perfect For

• Mineralogy collectors and geology enthusiasts
• Lovers of pyrite, cinnabar, galena, and metallic crystal specimens
• Admirers of German scientific illustration and natural history
• Those drawn to the intersection of science, art, and crystalline beauty
• Rockhounds and mineral collectors
• A thoughtful gift for geologists and lovers of rare illustrated atlases