578	MINERAL RESOURCES.
	should be sold at public auction. These exceptions were made because it was feared that they would fall into the hands of Americans. The sale of this great historic collection took place in May, 1887. The forty-eight parcels were subdivided into one hundred and forty-six lots, and there were sixty-eight buyers; the sales to twelve of them brought over 100,000 francs each. The largest lot, the great corsage, which sold for 811,000 francs, was purchased by a single American firm, the largest buyer at the sale. The purchases of this firm amounted to 2,249,600 francs, or about 34 per cent, of the entire sum realized; while as to quality the same firm obtained more than two-thirds of the finest gems, among them were three Mazarins; a pear-shaped rose brilliant weigh­ing 24-27/32 carats, for 128,000 francs; a pear-shaped white brilliant weigh­ing 22-1/4 carats, for 81,000 francs; a white brilliant weighing 28-7/16 carats, for 155,000 francs; and an oval brilliant weighing 18-1/32 carats, for 71,000 francs; or 435,000 francs for the four. All but one of their purchases were secured by private American customers. The great interest at­tached to this sale was due not only to the fact that many of the gems were of very fine quality, but also to their historic associations; the history of many of them could be traced back several hundred years. The collection of antique gems, numbering three hundred and thirty-one pieces, formed by the late Rev. C. W. King, of Trinity College, England, the greatest of all writers on engraved gems, was sent to the United States for sale in 1881. This collection represents the sum­ming up of Mr. King's vast knowledge, and none has ever been more thoroughly studied. His numerous writings mark an epoch in the study of this branch of archaeology, and only the loss of his sight led him to part with his treasure. The growing interest and taste in arch­aeological matters in the United States induced him to send it here to be sold intact. In October, 1881, through the friendly mediation of Mr. Feuardent, it was purchased and presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Mr. John Taylor Johnson, the president of the mu­seum, where it now remains. Near it will be placed the Sommerville collection. Mr. Maxville Sommerville, while spending the past thirty-two years of his life in Europe, Asia, and Africa, has collected cameos, intaglios, seals, and other historical gems, and as a result of his liberal expenditure of time and money he is today the owner of one of the most unique and valuable collections of engraved gems in the world. It numbers over one thousand five hundred specimens, including Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Aztec, and Mexican glyptic, or jewel-carving art. All of these are represented by specimens of singular excellence, affording us a panoramic view of the achievements of civilized man in this direction. This remarkable col­lection, now at his home in Philadelphia, has been loaned to the Me­tropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it will soon be placed on exhibition, and the public will be afforded every facility to study the beautiful achievements of the glyptic art.