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Making it Mine explores the fascinating story of Sir Arthur Russell 6th Baronet as he pursued his quest to build the finest collection of British minerals ever assembled. Running to more than 400 large format pages and lavishly illustrated with more than 750 photographs and diagrams, including more than 400 previously unpublished images of specimens from Sir Arthur’s collection, the book delves into his family history, the background to his passion for mineralogy and his single-minded determination to secure the very best specimens for his collection. The stories and people behind the specimens are woven into a compelling narrative together with sketches and anecdotes concerning the many colleagues and contacts that assisted him along the way.
CLICK THE IMAGE TO SEE INSIDE
The book will appeal to all those interested in British mineralogy, to mineral collectors and dealers, to historians of mineralogy, museum curators, university researchers and to anyone who is simply interested in the treasures of the natural world. This is neither a coffee table book nor a biography, but rather a blend of the two that takes the reader on an absorbing journey through the last 200 years of mineral collecting. If you have any ex-Sir Arthur Russell specimens in your collection you really won’t want to miss this book!
The book is the same page size/format as my previous two books Crystal Mountains Minerals of the Cairngorms and Minerals of the English Midlands, matching the trail-blazing Minerals of Cornwall and Devon by Peter Embrey and Bob Symes, published in 1987, and followed by volumes from various authors and institutions over the intervening years.
Sir Arthur Edward Ian Montague Russell (1878 – 1964) 6th Baronet, of Swallowfield Park, Reading, Berkshire, was perhaps the greatest British mineral collector of the twentieth century.
His tenacity and dogged determination in seeking out the very best specimens for his collection was comparable to the reputation of the Canadian Mounties in always “getting their man”.
His superb collection of British minerals was bequeathed to the Natural History Museum in London in 1964.
You can learn more about Sir Arthur Russell in an online document that I prepared for the fiftieth anniversary of his death in February 2014 here
You can read a review of the book published in Mineralogical Magazine here Making it Mine – review Mineralogical Magazine (2023) and another published in The Mineralogical Record here Making it Mine – review Min.Rec. vol.53 no.5 (Review reproduced by kind permission of The Mineralogical Record).
An online review in Geoscientist is available here
and the rear cover:-
Book launch at the Oxford Mineral Show – 8 May 2022. Author Roy Starkey (centre) pictured with Robin Hansen (left) and Mike Rumsey (right) of the Natural History Museum, London. Thanks Robin and Mike!