FAUJAS DE SAINT-FOND Barthélémy Minéralogie des volcans ou description de toutes les substances produites ou rejetées par les fonds souterrains.

Hoover coll., 293; Neville, 447.

First edition.

The last 75 pages are exclusively devoted to volcanic minerals from the Aetna, sent by the scientist Dolomieu together with samples.

“An important study describing the types of minerals and chemicals produced by volcanoes. The author, who first recognized the volcanic origin of basalt, discusses the crystallography of the minerals therein, as well as the morphology of basaltic masses. Plates II and III illustrate columnar basalt buttes near Pradelle in the Massif Central. Various analytical chemical tests used by the author in his investigations on basalt, lavas, and other igneous rocks are described. The book is well documented by references to contemporary literature. Very scarce” (Neville).

This collection was intended to be added to the collection that Faujas had constituted for the “Cabinet du Roi” and is still preserved today at the Museum d’histoire naturelle in Paris.

The three plates show the structure and formations of basalt. 

A good copy.