Dear Catherine,
You may wish to start with one of the earliest references - Pliny the
Elder's "Natural History" Books XXXVI and XXXVII, it may still be available
from the Loeb Classical Library, Harvard Univ. some other works are:
Kunz, George F. The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, J.B. Lippincott &
Co., Philadelphia, 1913 or the Dover paper-back reprint of 1971,
King, Charles W. The Natural History of Precious Stones and of the
Precious Metals, Bell & Daldy, London, 1870
Fobes, Harriet K. Mystic Gems, Richard G. Badger Pub., Boston, 1924.
Renton, Edward Intaglio Engraving, Past and Present, George Bell & Sons,
London, 1896.
There are works on ancient lapidary work, such as
Buhler, Hans-Peter, Antike Gefasse aus Edelstein, Verlag Phillip von
Zabern, Mainz, 1973
Khouli. Ali-El Egyptian Stone Vessels Predynastic Period to Dynast III,
Typology and Analysis, 3 Volumes, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1978.
There are lots of others, if you need more, let me know and I will see
what I could find.
Hope this helps.
Russell
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