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Antique Book Selection:

Some gemological works, though rare, have been published before 1600, usually within a religious, medicinal or superstiticious context. Famous physicist Boyle was one of the first to provide a systematic gemological study of gemstones, and to look at refractive characteristics (rainbow effect) in the Diamond. You can peruse several rare books here.

With the onset of the Renaissance the physical sciences started to develop more independently. Where before medicine, gems, gemology, geology were all treated in one discourse before 1600, by 1800 those had all developed into separate disciplines. Find a selection of publications in between 1600 and 1800 here.