THE ROCKHOUND’S HANDBOOK

V.A. Firsoff and G.I. Firsoff, David and Charles 1975.

The Rockhound’s Handbook is exactly what the title implies, containing in concise and handy form the information a collector of minerals and gemstones requires. Extensive lists of the most important minerals and their properties are given although, for simplification, the optical properties are limited to transparent or potentially transparent gemstones. Descriptions of selected minerals contain lists of the localities where they can be found – arranged for easy geographical reference.

Appropriate geological information, which is important for successful collecting and a list of the main rock types and their classifications, is likewise provided.

Equipment is also described and various practical hints on the identification and handling of minerals are dealt with in the kind of detail not usual in standard mineralogical works. Finally, there are two chapters on the cutting and polishing of gemstones and, where applicable, other mineral specimens, with an emphasis on the simplest methods. If the reader wants to go beyond the rudiments, all the basic information, including the facts on machinery, is there, so too are the procedures for carrying out chemical or optical tests to determine the composition and other properties of the finds.

This is a handbook that will be of permanent value for the amateur.

Both the book and the dust jacket are in good condition