Johann von Kurr
(1798-1870)
Johann Gottlob von Kurr was born in Sulzbach on the Murr, Württemberg, Germany in 1798. After earning his doctorate in Medicine and Surgery, he was first an Instructor in Natural History, then Professor of Botany at the Polytechnic Institute in Stuttgart, and later Professor of Mineralogy. His first mineralogical work was a textbook of economic mineralogy (Grundzüge der Ökonomisch-Technischen Mineralogy) in 1836. By 1858 he had been made Professor of Natural History, and had been appointed a Knight (Ritter) of the Order of the Royal Württembergian Crown. By 1869 he had been promoted to Oberstudienrath (Senior Assistant Master) of the school. His fame today rests with his book on the Mineral Kingdom, the text for which he prepared for the publisher, J. F. Schreiber in Esslingen. Schreiber also arranged for the preparation of 23 color plates depicting a total of 225 mineral specimens, plus various accompanying idealized crystal drawings. The names of the artist and engraver are not given, nor is the source of the specimens illustrated, many of which are extremely fine—which is unfortunate inasmuch as the fame of the work derives from its illustrations and not its rather undistinguished text. It was an early example of what we would today call a "coffee-table book."
Kurr's The Mineral Kingdom (1859), first issued in German as Das Mineralreich in Bildern (1858), initially appeared with hand-colored plates (except for the metallic inks, which were always printed). However, by the time of the second German edition in 1869, Schreiber had adopted the new and presumably less expensive technology of chromolithography, and was issuing all plates with printed colors. For the most part this resulted in a decrease in the artistic quality, as the nuances of color shading and brushwork gave way to the flattened and simplified colors of the press. The examples pictured here, from a copy in the Mineralogical Record Library, are all from the 1859 English edition, with hand-colored plates.
W.E.W.
Reference:
Schuh, C. (2005) Mineralogy and Crystallography: An Annotated Biobibliography of Books Published 1469 through 1919. Privately published, Tucson, 1203 pages.
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Number of artworks found: 63 | Artworks being viewed: 1 to 8
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Uvarovite from Bissersk, Siberia
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 1.4-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 2, Figure 12 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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Vesuvianite from Mount Vesuvius, Italy
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 2.3-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 2, Figure 23 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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Epidote from Arendal, Norway
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 1.7-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 2, Figure 29 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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Amethyst from Chemnitz, Hungary
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 2.3-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 3, Figure 5 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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Quartz from Dauphiné, France
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 3.3-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 3, Figure 7 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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Olivenite from Snarum, Norway
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 1.7-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 5, Figure 21 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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Ankerite from Schneeberg, Saxony
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 1.7-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 10, Figure 4 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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Aragonite from Leogang, Salzburg, Austria
Hand-colored copper-plate engraving (1858), by an unnamed artist and engraver, depicting (presumably actual-size) a 1.6-inch specimen from an unnamed collection. Published as Plate 10, Figure 3 of Kurr's Mineral Kingdom, Edinburgh edition of 1859. |
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