# Essai sur la Turquoise et sur la Calaite **Autore:** Fischer von Waldheim Johann Gotthelf **Dati editoriali:** Moscow, Imperial University Press, printed at the expense of the Zozima Brothers, 1816 **Codice archivio:** 182 **Prezzo:** 9000.00 USD **Stato commerciale:** Disponibile **Link ufficiale:** https://www.govirarebooks.com/products/fischer-essai-turquoise-calaite-1816 --- ## Descrizione accademica e analisi 8vo (214x128 mm). 46 pp., including title-page, Russian printing authorization on its verso, preliminary dedication and text; 2 folding engraved plates, printed in green and black, illustrating fossil teeth in longitudinal sections and various aspects. Printed on pale blue paper. Original pinkish-brown printed wrappers, with the title repeated on the upper cover. Some rubbing, minor marginal wear and small defects to the wrappers, particularly along the spine and at the corners; occasional light spotting, title page slightly soiled along the outer margins. Provenance: Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), British naturalist, botanist and President of the Royal Society from 1778 until his death, with a contemporary manuscript presentation inscription on the upper wrapper, “À Sir Joseph Banks / de la part de l'auteur”; subsequently British Museum, with its nineteenth-century oval ownership stamp in red ink, incorporating the British royal arms, on the verso of the preliminary dedication. No library shelfmark or deaccession marking has been identified. First edition of the earliest substantial scientific monograph devoted entirely to turquoise, a significant contribution to the development of mineralogical classification and the distinction between genuine turquoise and the fossil substances historically sold under the same name. Published in Moscow at the expense of the Greek merchant-philanthropists known as the Zozima Brothers, Fischer's treatise addressed a problem that had perplexed naturalists, mineralogists, jewellers and antiquarians for centuries: the identification of superficially similar blue-green materials which differed fundamentally in their physical constitution and geological origin. The question centred upon the distinction between genuine mineral turquoise, particularly that associated with Persian deposits, and the so-called turquoise occidentale, or odontolite, a blue-green material obtained from fossilized bones and teeth. The terminology had become confused through centuries of descriptive tradition, in which colour, appearance, supposed provenance and commercial nomenclature frequently took precedence over mineralogical investigation. Fischer sought to resolve these ambiguities by comparing earlier authorities with the direct examination of specimens, bringing together historical nomenclature, comparative anatomy and the emerging principles of systematic mineralogy. The designation calaïte, derived from an older mineralogical and antiquarian vocabulary, occupies a central position in Fischer's argument. The term must be understood in its early nineteenth-century context rather than simply equated with a modern mineral species. In distinguishing the materials to which the name turquoise had been applied, Fischer attempted to establish a classification based upon natural constitution rather than external resemblance. His investigation accordingly belongs to a formative stage in the transition from descriptive natural history to increasingly analytical mineralogy. The two folding engraved plates are integral to this argument. Rather than representing polished gemstones, they illustrate fossil teeth in longitudinal sections and other views, emphasizing their internal structure and the anatomical origin of materials mistaken for turquoise. Finely engraved and printed in green and black, the plates provide visual evidence for Fischer's distinction between mineral substances and fossil remains. Their restrained colouring is particularly effective in conveying the characteristic greenish appearance of the specimens while preserving the structural detail necessary for comparison. An important feature of the treatise is its historical and bibliographical apparatus. On pp. 11–13 Fischer assembles approximately thirty references to earlier literature, tracing the discussion of turquoise from classical antiquity to the mineralogical investigations of his own period. The work is therefore not merely an original description of particular specimens but a critical examination of the accumulated scientific tradition. Its importance lies in the systematic reassessment of inherited classifications through the comparison of textual authorities and physical evidence. The book was published during a period of renewed scientific activity in Moscow following the catastrophic fire of 1812, which had severely damaged the university's collections and Fischer's personal library. The publication was financed by the Zozima Brothers, members of a prominent Greek mercantile family active in Russia and associated with cultural philanthropy and the collecting of precious objects. Their support places the treatise at the intersection of academic natural history, the commerce in gemstones and the interests of private collectors. The Russian authorization printed on the verso of the title-page is dated 13 November 1816 and signed by Vasilij Kotel'nickij, an ordinary professor. It permits publication subject to the submission of five copies to the Censorship Committee for governmental purposes. This statement constitutes an administrative printing authorization, not evidence of a five-copy limitation. It provides a precise date within the publication history and establishes the official authorization of the edition in the final months of 1816. A second edition appeared in Moscow in 1818, printed by Auguste Semen, again at the expense of the Zozima Brothers. It was enlarged to 47 pages, included three folding plates instead of two, expanded the bibliography and carried a dedication to Sir James Wylie. Johann Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (1771-1853), also known in Russia as Grigorii Ivanovich Fischer von Waldheim, was one of the principal figures in the establishment of modern natural history, mineralogy and palaeontology in the Russian Empire. Born at Waldheim in Saxony on 13 October 1771, he received his early education in the German scientific tradition and became acquainted with the influential mineralogical teachings of Abraham Gottlob Werner at Freiberg. His intellectual formation also brought him into contact with Alexander von Humboldt, while his subsequent study of comparative anatomy developed within the scientific environment shaped by Georges Cuvier. Fischer studied medicine at Leipzig, where he obtained his academic qualifications in the closing years of the eighteenth century. His earliest publications concerned comparative anatomy, animal physiology and the structure of vertebrates, including studies of the swim bladder of fishes and the mechanisms of respiration. These investigations established the anatomical foundations of his later work on fossils and the classification of extinct animals. He also contributed to the transmission of French comparative anatomy into German scientific literature, an activity reflecting the international character of his scholarly interests. Before settling in Russia, Fischer taught natural history at Mainz, where he acquired experience in the administration of collections and libraries. In 1804 he was appointed professor of natural history at the Imperial University of Moscow and director of its Natural History Museum. He undertook the reorganization and expansion of the university's collections, applying systematic methods to their classification and publication. In 1805 he founded the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow, which became an important institution for the advancement and dissemination of scientific research throughout the Russian Empire. His early Moscow publications reveal the close relationship between museum practice and scientific authorship. The Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Université Impériale de Moscou (1806) presented material from the university's collections, while the Museum Demidoff (1806) documented the extensive mineralogical and fossil holdings associated with the Demidov collection. The Notice des fossiles du Gouvernement de Moscou (1809) and the Onomasticon du système d'oryctognosie (1811) developed his interests in fossil classification and mineralogical nomenclature. The destruction caused by the fire of Moscow in 1812 interrupted this programme and resulted in serious losses to scientific collections. Fischer subsequently took an active part in their reconstruction, continuing to publish and reorganize the material available to him. The Essai sur la Turquoise et sur la Calaite belongs to this phase of his career, combining the mineralogical principles inherited from the Wernerian tradition with his anatomical expertise and his interest in the identification of fossil remains. During the following decades Fischer increasingly concentrated on palaeontology, entomology and the natural history of Russia. His major publications included the extensive Entomographia Imperii Rossici (1820–1851), devoted to the insects of the Russian Empire, and the Oryctographie du Gouvernement de Moscou (1830–1837), an important contribution to the geological and palaeontological study of the Moscow region. His descriptions and classifications of fossils helped establish palaeontology as a systematic scientific discipline within Russia, while his institutional work provided a lasting foundation for natural-history research. Fischer maintained connections with numerous European scientific societies and academies and played an important role in the exchange of specimens, publications and scientific information between Russia and western Europe. His career is especially significant for the manner in which he combined the intellectual traditions of German mineralogy, French comparative anatomy and Russian natural-history collecting. He died in Moscow on 18 October 1853. The most remarkable feature of the present copy is the contemporary manuscript inscription on its original upper wrapper, explicitly presenting the work to Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) on behalf of the author. Banks, who had accompanied Captain James Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific and served as President of the Royal Society from 1778 until 1820, was among the most influential figures in the international organization of natural history during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His importance extended far beyond his own botanical investigations. Through his extensive correspondence, his collections and his scientific library, Banks operated as a central intermediary between naturalists, travellers, collectors, governments and learned institutions across Europe and beyond. His London residence and library became an international centre for the exchange of scientific books, specimens and information. The presentation of Fischer’s treatise to Banks is consequently of particular historical interest. By 1816 Fischer was an established naturalist and university professor in Moscow, directing important scientific collections and maintaining an extensive network of European contacts. The dispatch of his new study of turquoise to the President of the Royal Society was entirely consistent with contemporary practices of scientific communication, whereby authors circulated copies of their publications to distinguished correspondents and institutional intermediaries. The inscription, written in French on the original printed wrapper, preserves evidence of the book’s intended recipient at the moment of its early circulation. Its wording is unambiguous as to the presentation on behalf of the author, although the identification of Fischer's own hand requires comparison with authenticated correspondence. The survival of the original wrapper is especially significant in this respect, preserving a feature that might easily have disappeared had the pamphlet been rebound. A further and highly unusual circumstance has emerged through comparison with another copy of the same edition digitized from the collections of the British Library and available through Google Books (digital identifier aXod9Ddxe_0C). On the verso of its title-page, immediately beneath the Russian printing authorization, this second copy bears a rectangular mark reading “Jos: Banks”. The form corresponds to Banks’s documented personal book stamp, examples of which have been identified in historical studies of his library. The two copies therefore preserve different forms of evidence connecting the publication with Banks: the present example bears a manuscript presentation inscription addressed to him, while the digitized example bears his personal ownership mark. They appear to represent two distinct surviving copies of Fischer's first edition associated with the same distinguished scientific recipient. The precise circumstances remain unresolved. It is possible that Fischer supplied more than one copy for Banks’s personal use or for distribution through his scientific network; alternatively, the two copies may have followed separate paths before entering British institutional collections. No surviving correspondence or contemporary inventory entry has yet been identified that conclusively establishes the simultaneous possession of both copies by Banks. The present copy also bears the historic red oval stamp of the British Museum, with the British royal arms. The form belongs to the family of institutional stamps predominantly employed from 1837 to 1929, although the precise date of its application cannot be determined solely from its appearance. Banks died in 1820, leaving his scientific library for the benefit of the British Museum, subject to provisions concerning its use by his friend and librarian Robert Brown. In 1827 arrangements were made for the transfer of the collection, comprising approximately 16,000 volumes, to the Museum. The resulting Bankseian Library became one of the institution's most important historical scientific collections. The British Museum stamp on the present volume consequently provides a potentially significant link between its original presentation and the subsequent institutional history of Banks’s books. Nevertheless, it does not by itself establish that this particular example entered the Museum as part of the 1827 transfer. The colour of the stamp, generally associated with purchases in the Museum’s historical marking system, introduces the possibility of a different route of acquisition, although stamping practices were not wholly uniform. Equally, the circumstances by which the present copy subsequently passed out of the Museum’s collections have not yet been established. No shelfmark, cancellation or disposal record has been identified. --- ## Bibliografia di riferimento Sinkankas, John, Gemology: An Annotated Bibliography, Metuchen, NJ, 1993, nos. 2134 (1816 edition) and 2135 (1818 edition). Schuh, Curtis P., Annotated Bio-Bibliography of Mineralogy and Crystallography, 1469-1920, Tucson, online edition, s.v. “Fischer von Waldheim, Gotthelf”, entries 6-7. Hill, Jonathan A., Catalogue Two Hundred & Four, New York, 2013, no. 39. Büttner, Johannes W.E., Fischer von Waldheim. Leben und Wirken des Naturforschers Johann Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (1771 bis 1853), Berlin, 1956. Bessudnova, Zoya A., “Grigory (Gotthelf) Fischer von Waldheim (1771-1853): Author of the First Scientific Works on Russian Geology and Palaeontology”, in Earth Sciences History 32, no. 1 (2013), pp. 102-120. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 7, Leipzig:, 1878, pp. 84-85. Poggendorff, Johann Christian, Biographisch-literarisches Handwörterbuch zur Geschichte der exacten Wissenschaften, vol. I, Leipzig, 1863, cols. 753, 1564. Edwards, Edward, Lives of the Founders of the British Museum, London, 1870. From the South Seas to Soho Square: Joseph Banks's Library, Collection and Kingdom of Natural History. Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 2019. Duffy, Christina, “A Guide to British Library Book Stamps”, British Library, 23 September 2013. British Library, Add MS 33494, Catalogues of the Library and Collection of Prints belonging to Sir Joseph Banks. British Library, B.389.(8.), recorded copy of the 1816 edition; identification with the Google Books digitization remains to be confirmed. --- *Documento generato automaticamente dall'Archivio Govi Rare Books per finalità di ricerca e catalogazione.*