Heritage Auctions Fine Minerals Auction Catalog 5234

An intriguing story about the giant phenomenal crystals, their discovery, collecting and fortune. Written by the famous collector and expert on giant crystals Ilia Deleff, Doctor Honoris Causa. Deeply convinced that every giant crystal is like a "stone book" carrying in it invaluable scientific information, Mr Deleff persistently inspired his ideas that phenomenal crystals of minerals are natural creations that must be saved and preserved for humanity. Many Western European and American museums are in possession of valuable collections or separate minerals provided by Ilia Deleff. In 1983, France acquired his remarkable collection of giant quartz crystals, exhibited in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. In 1985, he donated to his homeland Bulgaria a similar unique collection of giant crystals. The book is richly illustrated by color photographs of crystals and contains also chapters written in cooperation with the mineralogist Dr R.I.Kostov. The chapter "Gem Treasures of Brasil" is the most complete, up-to-date, survey on the topic. The book is of use to any geological or mineralogical library, mineralogical museums, specialists in the field, collectors of crystals and all lovers of nature.

"Nordic co-operation is one of the world's most extensive forms of regional collaboration, involv-ing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and three autonomous areas: the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland.

The importance of good land governance to strengthen women s land rights, facilitate land-related investment, transfer land to better uses, use it as collateral, and allow effective decentralization through collection of property taxes has long been recognized. The challenges posed by recent global developments, especially urbanization, increased and more volatile food prices, and climate change have raised the profile of land and the need for countries to have appropriate land policies. However, efforts to improve country-level land governance are often frustrated by technical complexities, institutional fragmentation, vested interests, and lack of a shared vision on how to move towards good land governance and measure progress in concrete settings. Recent initiatives have recognized the important challenges this raises and the need for partners to act in a collaborative and coordinated fashion to address them. The breadth and depth of the papers included in this volume, all of which were presented at the World Bank s Annual Conference on Land Policy and Administration, illustrate the benefits from such collaboration. They are indicative not only of the diversity of issues related to land governance but, more importantly, highlight that, even though the topic is complex and politically challenging, there is a wealth of promising new approaches to improving land governance through innovative technologies, country-wide policy dialogue, and legal and administrative reforms. The publication is based on an on-going partnership between the World Bank, the International Federation of Surveyors, the Global Land Tool Network and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization provide tools that can help to address land governance in practice and at scale. It is our hope that this volume will be of use to increase awareness of and support to the successful implementation of innovative approaches that can help to not only improve land governance, but also thereby contribute to the well-being of the poorest and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.