A scarce Russian mineralogical work - in a superb binding typical of noble Russian provenance.

The work, detailed and well structured, focuses on the chemical composition of minerals, their geometry and physical properties. The text is accompanied by engraved folding plates depicting different crystalline structures and various scientific instruments.
It was compiled by the German-Russian engineer Anton Shturm and is largely a translation of Ernst Friedrich Glocker's "Handbuch der Mineralogie" (Nürnberg, 1829), though Shturm added many comments of his own. The publication was funded by the St. Petersburg Mineralogical Society.

It is much probably the first edition, but, because of rarity, we couldn't find much information on the work and its author. It is not included in the extensive Sinkankas collection. Worldcat locates 8 copies in Northern America, to which KVK adds one in the National Library of Finland.

Octavo (23x 14,5cm). XX pp., including half title and title, 488, [2]pp., with a folding table and 5 folding engraved plates; occasional very light spotting. Contemporary dark green morocco, boards with all-over blind-tooling and bordered with gilt fillets with ornate cornerpieces, spine elaborately gilt in compartments, titled in gilt with raised bands, ornate dentelles, blue endpapers, all edges gilt; very slightly rubbed.