A Lapidary or, The History of Pretious Stones: With cautions for the undeceiving of all those that deal with Pretious Stones by Nicols, Thomas - 1652

Small 4to, old calf with later rebacking, endpapers replaced, with folding table, [x], [10], 239 pp. Covers spotted, edges rubbed, hinges cracked, top cover detached, rubberstamping on endpapers and verso of chart, half of front blank lacking, scribbling on front and rear blanks, light browning to page edges; else very good. While his exact origins are not clear, Thomas Nicols may have been the son of a Dr. Nicols, and appears to have entered Jesus College in Cambridge in 1640. The first edition of this book (other editions published in 1653 and 1659) represents the first gemological work written and published by a British author. This work is divided into two sections; the first is a general treatise on the subject. The second provides descriptions of the characteristics of individual gemstones. Nicols seems to be an author who gives credit where credit is due; in that in his preface he indicates he used a lot of material from Boetius de Boot’s Gemmarum et lapidum (1st edition in 1609) and other authors. Nevertheless, this is a landmark work on the subject, which provides a scheme of classification, and presents a lot of very valuable personal experience with gems. "A striking feature of the book, perhaps gained from personal experience, is his familiarity with the methods of enhancement of gems in their jewelry settings, also falsifications and adulterations, all of his statements regarding these areas being fresh and authoritative and suggesting a recent experience with gems and the manufacture of jewelry. Much of this information remains pertinent."