In addition to his medical practice, lecturing and teaching at the London Hospital, and his publishing of several medical works, the Irish physician Archibald Billing (1791 1881) was also an amateur artist and antiquarian. This illustrated book on gemmology was first published in 1867. Beginning with the works of ancient Greece, for him the highest pinnacle of civilization, Billing discusses the use of engraved gems, putting cameos and intaglios in the context of contemporary monumental sculpture, and tracing the history of carving in miniature back to the seal-stones of the Egyptians and Assyrians. He also considers the types and qualities of mineral used in making jewellery, from semi-precious pebbles through to diamonds, and he describes the techniques of cutting precious stones. The work concludes with a translation of the autobiography of the Italian engraver Benedetto Pistrucci (1784 1855), who became chief medallist at the Royal Mint."

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1875 Edition.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1875 Edition.

1875. This volume discusses gems, jewels, coins and medals of ancient and modern times. At almost all times, gem engravers have cut devices on precious stones so that in fact, as jewels are gems, not all gems are jewels. They are treated the same in this work. Billings writes about the history of coins and medals, some of which are found in archeological sites. The appendix is a translation by Mrs. Billings of the Autobiography of Benedetto Pistrucci.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Title: The Science of Gems, Jewels, Coins, and Medals, ancient and modern. (Appendix. Autobiography of Pistrucci. Translated by Mrs. Billing.) With plates.]Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The GEOLOGY collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The works in this collection contain a number of maps, charts, and tables from the 16th to the 19th centuries documenting geological features of the natural world. Also contained are textbooks and early scientific studies that catalogue and chronicle the human stance toward water and land use. Readers will further enjoy early historical maps of rivers and shorelines demonstrating the artistry of journeymen, cartographers, and illustrators. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Billing, Archibald; 1875. 226 p.; 8 . 7106.bb.30.

This volume discusses gems, jewels, coins and medals of ancient and modern times. At almost all times, gem engravers have cut devices on precious stones so that in fact, as jewels are gems, not all gems are jewels. They are treated the same in this work. Billings writes about the history of coins and medals, some of which are found in archeological sites. The appendix is a translation by Mrs. Billings of the Autobiography of Benedetto Pistrucci.