A Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources

This book consists of folklore from ancient times to the middle ages concerning stones and gems. It is arranged alphabetically by the scientific name of the stone or gem. The author is Claude Lecouteux, a former professor at the Sorbonne who lives in Paris. It is evident that considerable research of medieval literature was required to compile this fine reference work.The editorial review provided with the Amazon product description was highly complimentary of the book's illustrations. However, if one is anticipating elegant color photographs, such as the one shown on the book's cover, the book may be disappointing. Most of the illustrations consist of small, simple black and white line drawings of various folk scenes in the medieval style. Connecting the illustrations to the surrounding text requires some imagination on the part of the reader. The majority of entries are actually text only and the book was clearly never intended to be a work of graphic art. I personally like the quaint line drawings and find them appropriate for the topic.I am enjoying the casual browsing of the very interesting content, and the book is undoubtably an informative reference source.

Thorough volume on the subject matter. Collecting the authors books. Must-haves.

An excellent collection of stones and the magical and sacred purposes that they have been used for. Another great look b Claude Lecouteux into the minds and beliefs of our ancestors.

Excellent resource and reference books for ancient and medieval understandings of sacred stones!

I love this book. Never seen a source like it, honestly, it's so close to being useful that it's painful. The stones are only organized by their ancient names, so if you're trying to find information on a stone and you only know its modern names, this will not help you. I see why there's no idex by modern name (Most of these stones have only recently been identified in any reliable way), but I'm still trying to write one that at least breaks them down by color so it's a more searchable resource. Worth the money, but know that this will also be an investment of time.

Great reference book for my jewelry business.

My child was very happy with this book

Right after I received my copy I paid $15.00 for, I got a catalog offering it on sale for $21.00 marked down from $26! I was happy I'd gotten such a good deal.