Seven autograph manuscript notebooks - photo 1
Seven autograph manuscript notebooks - photo 2

Seven autograph manuscript notebooks

Lot 35
02.02.2024 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
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$ 1 260
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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Archive
ID 1129653
Lot 35 | Seven autograph manuscript notebooks
Estimate value
$ 1 800 – 2 500
MINEROLOGY – MAXWELL, Henry, 7th Baron Farnham (1799–1868). Seven autograph manuscript notebooks, Trinity College, Cambridge (c. 1818), Newton Barry, (1822), Farnham House, County Cavan, Ireland (1823).

7 manuscript books, 8vo (various sizes) 265 pages (approx.) Original paper wrappers (one lower wrapper with some minor dampstaining).

A fascinating collection of manuscript catalogues of minerals and meteorites, along with a few fossils, mostly relating to the family collections of minerals at their estates in County Cavan and Newtonbarry. The manuscripts reveal that Maxwell, better known for his cruel treatment of his Irish-Catholic tenants, lest they renounce their Catholic faith, was well-read in geological and mineralogical literature. Maxwell is unknown in the annals of mineralogy, but it is possible that he shared his interests with his contemporary and neighboring Irish peer William Willoughby Cole, third Earl of Inniskillen (1807–1886), geologist and paleontologist. Cole amassed a world-famous fossil collection at his residence Florence Court, south-west of Enniskillen and in proximity to Farnham House, Maxwell’s residence. Both Cole and Maxwell served in Parliament together, both were members of the Orange Order, of which Cole was master and also Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge.1.

[Includes:] 1. "General Account 1818" (as titled on front cover), signed ("Henry Maxwell) on the front paste-down. The text is headed "Constituent parts of Minerals" and lists various minerals and their composition, including Zircon, Hyacinth (noting the differences between those from Ceylon and those from Expailly in Auvergne), Chrysoberyl, Coccolite, Vesuvian (noting differences between those from Vesuvius and from Siberia), Sapphire (Klapisth and Bergman), Grenalite, Beryl, Amethyst, Tourmaline (comparing those analysed by Bergman and those by Vauquelin), Hyalite, Menilite, etc.

2. "Catalogue of the Minerals in the Collection of Henry Maxwell Esqr Newton Barry October 1822," signed ("Henry Maxwell / Trin. Coll: / Cambridge") on paste-down. With the motto (quotation from Virgil) "Vires acquirit eundo" on title and the note, "The arrangement is that adopted by Phillips, in the 2nd Edition of his excellent 'Introduction to Mineralogy', with occasional references to other Works."

3. "Mineralogical Memoranda." Inscribed ("Henry Maxwell / Newtown Barry / 1822") on paste-down. Commences "On the Egyptian Breccia Tomb of Alex[ander] / The following extract from Winkelmann / (sur la Breche d’Egypte, Tom. I p. 184) is of importance, as it described a substance little known, and proves the extreme rarity of this kind of stone …" with concluding remarks by Maxwell. Other entries include, "Belemnites / vulgarly called 'Thunder Bolts', or 'Thunder Stones', are composed of several crusts of stone encircling each other ... Snakes Stones, or Ammonite / The name of a large Genus of Shells, very few if any—of which are yet known in their recent state, or living either on our own or any other shores; so that it seems wonderful, whence so vast a number & variety of them should be brought into our subterranean regions …"

4, 5. "Catalogue of Minerals in the Collection of Henry Maxwell Esqr at Farnham House, Cavan." With the note, "The arrangement is that adopted by Phillips, in the 3rd Edition of his excellent 'Introduction to Mineralogy', with occasional references to other Works." Signed ("Henry Maxwell") at the base of both title pages. The first text page outlines the structure of the manuscript thus, "Minerals may be divided into the following Orders – I: Earthy Minerals. II: Alkaline—earthy minerals. III. Acids. IV: Acidiferous earthy Minerals. V: Acidiferous alkaline Mineral. VI: Acidiferous-alkalino-earthy Minerals. VII: Minerals (chiefly Earthy) which have not been analysed, or of which but little is known. VIII: Nature Metals & Metalliferous Minerals. IX: Combustibles." Minerals include, Quartz, Opal, Hornstone, Jasper, Epidote, Clays, Tremolite, Chlorite, Pitchstone, Carbonate of Lime, Dolomite, etc.

6. "Mineralogical Miscellanea." Divided into sections, the manuscript is arranged as follows: "Synopsis of Jasper"; "Synopsis of Pitchstone" (in sub-divisions: "Simple", "Porphyritic", "Concretionary Spheroidal", "Pearl-Stone", "Amygdaloidal—Containing Imbedded Nodules of another Mineral"); "Methodical Arrangement of Volcanic Substances by L. Cordier"; "Classification of Rocks"; and "On the Marbles used by the Greeks."

7. "Chronological List of Meteoric Stones." The manuscript is divided into two sections, ‘Before the Christian Era’ (in two divisions, "those which can be referred pretty nearly to a Date" and "those, of which a date cannot be determined") and "After the Christian Era". It is arranged in chronological order giving dates (excepting the second division of the first section) and places where meteors have been recorded under various descriptive names, e.g. "thunderstones", "falling stones", "a fiery stone", "a mass of iron fell", etc. Authors and sources are cited, including Gesner, Borelli, Mercati, et al, and the last date recorded is 1698.
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