Bought this 3 volume set a month ago. It may be the original GIA course, it certainly resembles the 1980 GG course. Its housed in three black loose leaf binders, a limited edition, #64 of 500 copies. mimeographed with pasted in pictures including a few photographs, on of Shipley himself.
Dona Dirlam, the GIA librarian calls it "rare". Anyone know anything about it, I would be grateful to hear.
Its a bit tender but carefully leafing through I made a couple of discoveries that increased my respect for the man. He was obviously very learned in gemology :
First, the GIA clarity grading scale existed as early as 1937. (the set is dated 1931 but obviously included updates) Shipley uses the terms VVS, VS and SI. He also defines clarity using a 10X loupe. GIA may have established this standard because, as far as I can tell, in the old days "perfect" meant eye-flawless. He also recommended the substitution of flawless for perfect.
On the subject of transparency, one of my favorites, Shipley makes the following observation:
"Transparency is of great importance but as few persons recognize the finer grades of transparency it is not ordinarily considered. Some diamonds are more transparent than others due, perhaps to greater absence of infinitesimal imperfections and perhaps also to fineness of texture." Vol III, p.145
Thus Shipley recognized the distinction between clarity and crystal but chose to ignore the latter as has his progeny for the past 70 years.
Post subject: Re: The Science of Gem Stones, Robert M. Shipley, 1931
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:02 pm
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I have a set of those books also, have had them for about 10 yrs, a friend gave them to me knowing we were into Lapidary. I wondered myself if there were any others out there. Mine are a little different though, they are in only two volumes, I referenced the line you quoted out of the book about transparency on pg 145 and it's the same on page 145 in mine only in the front of the 2nd volume. Mine are dated 1936 with no other numbering to suggest that there were any others made(unless it's somewhere other than the front). They are bound in a black leather like binder, gold embossed on the front, with mimeographed pages and pasted pictures, about 4 per book pasted on black hard paper(didn't see any of Mr. Shipley). I would love to talk to you more to compare these items. Did you ever find out a round about value of this? Have you heard of any others? I would really like to find out more.
Post subject: Re: The Science of Gem Stones, Robert M. Shipley, 1931
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:13 pm
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Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:01 am Posts: 370 Location: Easley, South Carolina
What fantastic books to have in your library. I was given a copy of "Handbook of Gem Identification" by Liddicoat (1957, 5th edition). This is the type of item that I cherish. Y'all are very lucky to have these great books.
John
_________________ John Atwell Rasmussen, Ph.D., AJP Web: http://handmadeartists.com/shop/rasmussengems Blog: http://rasmussengemsandjewelryllc.blogspot.com/
Post subject: Re: The Science of Gem Stones, Robert M. Shipley, 1931
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:36 pm
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Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:46 pm Posts: 3
Conny thank you so much for that valuable website, I would of never found it on my own. I still would like to know if anybody has any idea about the value of these books I have, and how many copies exist or were actually made.
Post subject: Re: The Science of Gem Stones, Robert M. Shipley, 1931
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:43 pm
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Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:46 pm Posts: 3
Gemlover thank you. I love books and when these fell into my lap I was so excited. Imagine having a one of a kind complete with both volumes. Mine are not numbered so I wonder if they were before the 3 volume set that Richard speaks of.
Sent you an email. As I said they are looseleaf and your set sound very much like mine minus a volume. Also, contents could have been moved around by a given student.
Gill's bibliography was a bit limited. As you know Sinkankas did a pretty good job though he missed a few and is now a bit dated, but he was my guide in building my collection.
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