Pearls: A Natural History [Hardcover]

Neil H. Landman (Author), Paula Mikkelsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

A book with the luster and allure of its subject, Pearls is the most spectacular volume ever produced on this prized gem. Blending history, science, and the jeweler's art to celebrate these natural treasures - as in Abrams' hugely successful Amber - this lavishly illustrated volume, shimmering with new color photography and archival images, traces the natural and cultural history of pearls around the world. Published to accompany an exhibition organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Field Museum in Chicago, Pearls begins with the earliest pearl artifacts found in Mesopotamia and discusses how pearls are formed, in nature and by humans, the ways different cultures have used pearls in literature, paintings, religious objects, and sculptures, and, of course, pearls as personal adornment.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Leonardo da Vinci's recipe for imitation pearls to the derring-do of deep-sea pearl divers, Pearls: A Natural History delves into virtually every aspect of the gemstones that have been prized since ancient times for their luster and purity. The fascination of this book--which accompanies an exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York through April 14, 2002--is the way it effortlessly combines scientific, historical, cultural, and practical information. Key topics include different species of marine and freshwater mollusks, the history of perliculture and ecological issues affecting pearl production. The more than 200 photographs include reproductions of spectacular objects ranging from a 16th-century Russian icon of the Madonna and child encrusted in freshwater pearls to an early-20th-century brooch in which lozenge-shaped Mississippi River pearls create the opulent blossoms of a diamond-stemmed flower. Solid information, intriguing trivia, and inviting design give this book a broad appeal. --Cathy Curtis

From Publishers Weekly

Accompanying a traveling exhibit from the American Museum of Natural History, Pearls: A Natural History by Neil H. Landman, Paula M. Mikkelsen, Ridiger Bieler and Bennet Bronson presents these gems in all their natural luster and social value. Jewelry and ornaments from 19th-century India, the antebellum U.S. (a photo of Mary Todd Lincoln in her inaugural jewels), 15th-century Korea, 14th-century England and seventh-century Byzantium appear alongside images of the international pearl industry. Along with selecting 225 photos (150 in color), the authors explain both "perliculture" and the harvesting of naturally occurring specimens, the biology of the mollusks that produce them and the history of pearls in human society. Gem aficionados will be taken with the book's range of size, shape and color of these ever-popular jewels.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 1 edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810944952
• ISBN-13: 978-0810944954
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pearls before swine..., February 7, 2002

By 

sue pitkin (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pearls: A Natural History (Hardcover)

This truly is a history book, written in a very accessable style with lots of great photos and illustrations. If there's anything else to know about pearls then I suspect it might just about fill up the back of a postage stamp with room to spare. A great resource for amateurs and professionals alike; I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's well worth the money.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars contains everything you could want to know, March 22, 2002

By 

Victoria Welch (Oxford University, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pearls: A Natural History (Hardcover)

This is an excellent, well illustrated book with everything you could want to know about pearls - how they occur naturally, the biology of this, how they are induced artificially ( cultured pearls), how they are faked, the optics of their appearance and how they have shaped history and , of course, pearl jewellery.

The hard bits are explained without jargon, in intelligeable words but without losing detail.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most thorough history of pearls book written in a century, June 4, 2009

By 

Elizabeth Norris (Roswell, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pearls: A Natural History (Hardcover)

This well written book explores society's interest in pearls, from their prehistoric use to the recent environmental impact on pearl producing invertebrates. Six of the eight chapters of the book are devoted to a thorough survey of how pearls are utilized by humans throughout history. The authors provide both primary and tertiary sources, including discussion of pearls documented by contemporary observers as far back as Cleopatra's time. Later chapters devoted to the science of pearl growth are written in a style accessible to the layman enthusiast. This is a book that can be mined for its scholarly information, but its popular interest to those who enjoy pearls for their decorative use should not be ignored. Illustrations include extant artifacts, artwork from throughout history, maps describing pearl growth and trade locations, and comparisons of the different pearl producing species. Taken as a whole, Pearls: A Natural History gives us the first definitive book on the history and science of pearls since The Book of the Pearl, by George Frederick Kunz, published in 1906.