"Gems" 1898 (SOLD)
Price on Request
[64] pp.
Edwin W. Streeter & Co Ltd
1898
9" x 6"
VG
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London: Streeter & Co. Ltd., [1898]. First edition. Hardcover. Quarto. 61, [3]pp. Original gilt-stamped burgundy cloth, with gold lettering on front cover. Decorative initials and tailpieces. Undated but 1898 (see below). This handsome catalog contains fascinating essays on 31 individual gemstones, as well as on heraldry, and the hardness of gems. However, the main feature of this work are the 28 pages of striking chromolithographic illustrations in color and real gold of this prominent jeweler's products. Truly, this catalog provides a valuable reference to the student and collector of the type, and sheds a new light on the fashion and design of late Victorian jewelry. Although this work is undated, it was only the 101st to 104th catalogs which had such sumptuous illustrations*. The 101st was published in 1898 and the 104th in 1900
Edwin Streeter, an eminent jeweler from London, active in obtaining pearls and gemstones at their sources, was also the author of several authoritative books on the subject. This 101st catalog was the first using color and printed using real gold (Patrick K. Streeter, "Streeter of Bond Street").