BOYLE (Robert): An Essay about the Origine & Virtues of Gems. Wherein are Propos'd and Historically Illustrated some Conjectures about the Consistence of the Matter of Precious Stones, and the Subjects wherein their chiefest Virtues reside. , London, Printed by William Godbid, and are to be sold by Moses Pitt at the White Hart in Little Britain, 1672.

FIRST EDITION. Small 8vo, 155 x 92 mms., pp. [xvi], 180, 182 - 185, recently rebound in quarter dark maroon morocco, olive morocco label, marbled boards; a good copy in a rather unsympathetic binding. Boyle (1627 - 1691) came from a well-to-do family, and his early career was devoted to literature; he wrote an almost unreadable treatise called Aretology, devoted to moral theory and tried a number of literary genres. His romance, The Martyrdom of Theodora and of Didymus, mixes moral sentiments with narrative tropes in an unconvincing manner. However, when he turned to his science, he found his true metier, impressing the scientific community with his Sceptical Chymist (1661). In this work, Boyle argues that gems were formed by crystallization from a liquid after the earth was formed. He believed that metalline corpuscles were incorporated in the gems, which gave them colour and density. Fulton 96. Wing B 3947. (Book ref. 7211 )  £ 3000.00

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