The Magic Of Jewels And Charms

This book is about the folklore surrounding many aspects of jewelry. The author says that in it will be found "an interesting galaxy of anecdote, research, and information upon a fascinating subject." The book is divided into ten chapters each dealing with a particular type of gem, or, its supposed powers and so on.

Excerpt from The Magic of Jewels and Charms Beauty of color or lustre in a stone or some quaint form attracts the eye of the savage, and his choice of material for ornament or adornment is also conditioned by the tough ness of some stones as compared with the facility with which others can be chipped or polished. Whereas a gem might be prized for its beauty by a single individual owner, a stone of curious and suggestive form sometimes claimed the reverence of an entire tribe, since it was thought to be the abode or the chosen instrument of some Spirit or genius. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 edition. Excerpt: ... translucent; it is composed of the porcelanous, not of the nacreous constituent of the shell.22 It has been stated that this Sulu superstition is not shared by the natives of Celebes Island, near Borneo, for here such pearls are kept as charms and talismans. One of an irregular pear-shape, weighing 27y2 grains, has been found on the northern coast of the island.23 The finding of a nautilus pearl by a Chinese woman in Borneo is noted by Rumphius, who describes it as being as large as a bean and East Indian Baroque pearl. Weight over 1700 grains. Holland, 1775. white as a piece of alabaster, hard and bright, but of very irregular shape. The finder put it in a closed box, and was not a little surprised to discover when she opened the box after a time that the original pearl had engendered another one the size of a lentil; later it had two other, smaller offspring. The woman carefully treasured her find as a lucky stone which would bring her good fortune in her search for mussels. Bumphius shrewdly conjectures that the smaller concretions had broken off the larger one while it was enclosed in the box.24 "H. Lyster Jameson, in *' Nature," Oct. 7, 1912. See " Nature," Oct. 24, 1912, p. 220. * Rumphius, "D'Amboinische Rariteitskamer," Amsterdam, 1741, p. b2. The well-known lines in Shakespeare's "Othello" Of one whose hand, like the base Judean's, Cast away a pearl richer than all his tribe. have been explained in many different ways by the commentators, one of whom (Steevens) saw in them a reference to the following story current in Venice in the sixteenth century. A Jew, after long and perilous wanderings in the East, succeeded in bringing with him to Venice a great number of fine pearls. These he disposed of there at satisfactory...

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A dictionary of amulets, talismans, and charms compiled by the staff of The Witches' Almanac is a richly illustrated reference guide highlighting all the jewels, herbs, and devices that have acquired special significance from earliest time to the present.

A lavishly illustrated celebration of the role and significance of charm jewelry presents historical and anecdotal information about the symbolic meanings of charms, references the collections of such individuals as Grace Kelly and Marlene Dietrich, and cites the twenty-first-century's growing charm popularity.