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Jason
Joined: 31 Dec 2008
Posts: 254
Location: atlanta
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 Posted: Mar 04, 2010 07:49 Post subject: My original Kunz book |
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Haven't posted this yet...about 2 weeks ago i finally got my 103 year old Original First edition Frederick Kunz book "History of Gems Found in North Carolina(1907) The rarest and hardest to find book on N.C. Gems and mins. there is. For being a 103 year old book it's in excellent shape. Only place I have ever seen this book is in museums in North Carolina and a couple big timey NC collectors...I even checked with PBA rare books auctions and they said although they have had most other Kunz books they have never had this one so naturally i scooped it up..whats sad is the guy who I got it from is a NC seller who needed an influx of cash real quick and had no choice but to part with it even though he really didn't want to..well the guy he originally sold it to "returned" it because of a library stamp in the top right corner..LOL..look at the pic and tell me how a faded library stamp would cause you or want you to return such and old and rare book? So he contacted me right after and I got it for roughly half the price the original guy paid. Has some early color litho's..I think color litho's were invented roughly 50 years prior and only certain books had them in the early 20th century. Being a Georgia native and traveling to NC many many times to collect this s a great addition to my collection..especially and original that may never be seen for sale again by me.
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John S. White
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1295
Location: Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, USA
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| Posted: Mar 04, 2010 08:06 Post subject: Re: My original Kunz book |
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A treasure indeed, you are most fortunate.
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John S. White
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Elise
Joined: 22 Dec 2009
Posts: 243
Location: New York State
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| Posted: Mar 04, 2010 09:23 Post subject: Re: My original Kunz book |
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| amethystguy wrote: | | First edition Frederick Kunz book "History of Gems Found in North Carolina(1907)...... Has some early color litho's..i think color litho's were invented roughly 50 years prior and only certain books had them in the early 20th century |
You are lucky the plates were not removed by someone along the line. The chronolithographs were produced by Louis Prang, though I don't know who the artist was that did the drawings from which they were lithographed (in other books, Kunz directed artists in making their paintings and Prang printed them). These were usually done on high quality paper, but the book itself is probably acid paper and will affect the plates deleteriously. You might want to look into archival suppliers to figure out how to best preserve the book (of course without taking the lithographs out); University Products is one company recommended to me by Terri Ottaway. According to John Sinkankas the Prang company had problems with earlier Kunz lithographs that stuck together in the books. The beryl in your 4th photo was the largest emerald mined in NC as of that time and is the same one which was stolen from the American Museum of Natural History in 1950.
A nice find for you, congratulations and thank you for sharing the plate pictures (there should be a 4th plate, perhaps you could share another photo without risking the binding).
Elise
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Elise Skalwold |
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Debbie Woolf
Joined: 09 Feb 2009
Posts: 168
Location: Kent
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| Posted: Mar 04, 2010 11:10 Post subject: Re: My original Kunz book |
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Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Debbie
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Jason
Joined: 31 Dec 2008
Posts: 254
Location: atlanta
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| Posted: Mar 04, 2010 13:21 Post subject: Re: My original Kunz book |
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Yea..elise..i had heard from someone else that usually the color litho's were cut out of this book and sold seperately or done whatever with..i am always surprised by the amount of knowledge you have not only on this thread but on others..you seem well versed in the more scientific aspects of Gems and Min...all are present in here..they each have a thin sheet of like..what seems to be tissue paper type material between the color lithos and previous page so they don't touch..my pops just told me that is what they usually had was a thin tissue paper that would cover the color pages..being as how he is as old as dirt and I am pushing 31 i know nothing on the subject really and think i need to take your advie and maybe see about getting it looked at or how i can preserve and prevent more decay and/or damage..it has both front and back covers laminated which my buddy had told me about beforehand
Here is that 4th color you mentioned..I hadn't seen this one yet as i have only gingerly opened here and there..it's the corundum page..also you can see that white tissue paper stuff that covers each color page..all are perfect with no rips or damage surprisingly..being so think and all..and the third pic..thats a B&W of the crabtree which i have collected at many many times..only other place i have seen this picture is in 1970's Lap Journal..sorry about pic quality..trying to hold the book open with one hand and take a photo with the other
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