|
|
|
|
|
Minerals of the Carpathians
Rocks and Minerals, Sep/Oct 2004
World coverage by well-researched geographic mineralogies has taken an important leap forward with the publication of Minerals of the Carpathians. The Carpathian Mountains, the 1,500-kilometer extension of the Eastern Alps, passes through parts of Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic and, as such, contain many historically important specimen-producing mining districts. In this interesting book, which was underwritten by the International Visegrad Fund, premier authorities on the mineralogy of each country have contributed sections that collectively present, for the first time in English, a comprehensive modern reference on this important area.
The book begins with a short introductory chapter that contains a compilation of minerals first discovered in the Carpathians and a useful lexicon of equivalent geographic terms in the six languages of the region. Chapter 2 presents a concise picture of the range's geologic structure and a review of its genetic types of mineral occurrences. This is followed by a chapter that presents the "mineralogical regions" of each country, describing not only mining districts but also the geologic environments that have produced collectible specimens. The bulk of the book--the next 250 pages--consists of the descriptions of mineral species. This chapter is broken down into sections based on traditional chemical classes, starting with elements and ending with silicates and with a short section on organic species. Within these sections, minerals are arranged alphabetically and then, within species descriptions, by country. The arrangement works nicely. The final pages of the chapter contain historical crystal drawings of specimens from the Carpathians, also arranged chemically. The last chapter describes mineral museums of the Carpathians on a country-by-country basis. The book closes with a comprehensive reference section and separate mineral and locality indexes.
In addition to its value as an important reference work, Minerals of the Carpathians is particularly well illustrated, with more than five hundred color photographs, line drawings, and maps. The hundreds of mineral photographs are, for the most part, representative of what the serious collector might expect to add to his collection, not simply pictures of exquisite minerals of a quality or rarity one could never hope to obtain. Rather than emphasizing particularly interesting species, there is a comprehensive photographic representation of most of the minerals described. The chapters on geologic and mineralogical regions are likewise well illustrated with both historical and current site photographs. The chapter on mineral museums contains photographs of not only selected museum buildings but also of those scientists related to the development of the museums.
This is a book that could have been a disaster. The amount of information contained is enormous, and when one considers the multiple languages of its authors, the compilation of even a first draft must have been daunting. Instead, the book is well organized, and the writing style is surprisingly consistent. The technical editing of author Sandor Szakall and the final English editing by Peter Lemkin are indeed excellent. Minerals of the Carpathians is certainly worth the price and is a must for any serious collector's library.
-Robert B. Cook
|
The Mineralogical Record, Sep/Oct 2005
The Carpathian Mountains are a 1,500 kilometer-long, scythe-shaped range of hills sweeping grandly through parts of six countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine and Romania. Readers of standard mineralogy texts, formal or informal, are likely to be accustomed to seeing localities specified in mine-town province-country terms, and thus may not be aware of how many of the great classic localities of eastern Europe lie within these quite lavishly mineralized (as well as beautiful) wooded hills: an extremely abbreviated listing includes Banská Stiavnica (Schemnitz), Kremnica (Kremnitz), Eubietová (Libethen), Spania Dolina (Herrengrund), Machow, Wieliczka, Ocna de Fier (Vaskþ), Sâcârâmb (Nagyág), Baia Sprie (Felsöbánya), Cavnik (Kapnikbánya), and Rosia Montanâ (Verespatak). To make my way through the underbrush of all those Slavic and Romanian diacritical marks I consulted the book's "Locality Index," which is perhaps its most useful appendix, especially inasmuch as it also notes the modern countries in which the hallowed old mining places now find themselves.
Still, English readers may find the book's organization a little confusing, since the mineral occurrences are not listed anywhere by mine-town-province-country; instead, they are mentioned opportunistically within the six parts of the large chapter called "Mineralogical Regions." The educational upside, though, is that the discussion of each region offers an overview, with sketch maps, of the geographical and geological relations among localities: the reader's grand tour of the Carpathian arc is a thorough and erudite one, with a specialist author for each country. These authors' names and short biographies are printed on the back cover: each is an academic and/or museum professional with anywhere from 25 to 200 scientific publications to his or her credit.
The whole of the book's first half-an Introduction followed by large sections called "The Carpathians-a Structural & Metallogenic Outlook" and "Mineralogical Regions"-flows smoothly, and is decorated with color photos of rolling green landscapes, ancient towns, mine excavations and rock specimens. On page 126 "Descriptions of Mineral Species" takes over and runs for 269 pages. Here the species are arranged according to the standard Dana rubric (native elements, sulfides, halides, etc.) and there are a final 20 pages of crystal drawings. In the text, each species receives its due-anywhere from a few lines to several print columns-of detailed locality information, subdivided by country. Thankfully, no space is wasted listing general properties of each species, as this information may be found readily in general mineralogy texts. The color photos of specimens are, for the most part, of good quality, as are the specimens themselves (special and super-salivary honors are hereby awarded to the 8-cm hessite from Botes, Romania on p. 157 and the rhodochrosite from Cavnik on p. 245). The photos are the work of no less than 15 photographers, and the specimens come from 28 museums and an uncounted number of private collections; nearly all of the museums described in Peter Bancroft's "Mineral Museums of Eastern Europe" (vol. 19, no. 1 of the Mineralogical Record) are represented, but at least 90% of the specimens pictured have not been illustrated before (at least they were new to me), in Bancroft or anywhere else. It is too bad that a pyromorphite specimen pictured on p. 296 is also shown on p. 290, differently oriented and labeled as hôrnesite, but on the whole the book does a fine, nearly glitch-free job of marshalling the immense volume of information into a sleek-paged, sunlit, no-nonsense presentation reminiscent of Bernard and Hyrsl recently published Minerals and Their Localities, also a product of the Granit publishing company in Prague.
From pages 396 to 427 the book recapitulates and elaborates Bancroft by describing "Mineral Museums of the Carpathians," showing photos of the major historical builders of those mineral collections, describing displays and emphases, and tempting would-be tourists with up-to date data on contact numbers and visiting hours. Concluding the book there is a 25 page bibliography (divided, naturally, by country into six subject parts), a mineral species index, and the invaluable Locality Index already mentioned. All in all, this unconventional "regional mineralogy" is a fine, highly polished product, attractive and collector-friendly while serving as an authoritative reference work. It is highly recommended, particularly for those enamored of classic European localities.
-Thomas P. Moore
|
Return to Book Description
|
|
|
|
