More than 1200 copies have been sold and the book is out of print.
You may be able to find a copy on the second hand market via ABE Books
Crystal Mountains tells the story of the early crystal hunters who roamed the mountains and glens of the Cairngorms during the 18th and 19th centuries in search of Scotland’s famous gem – the smoky quartz or cairngorm. The book provides a comprehensive history of this arduous and uncertain quest, and explains the geological background to the occurrence of the gem minerals. Lavishly illustrated with photographs of the wild and rugged scenery of the Cairngorms National Park, the text invites exploration and discovery. The author has been privileged to have obtained unprecedented access to both private and public collections, resulting in the inclusion of numerous previously unpublished photographs of mineral specimens, gemstones and artefacts made from them. The book will appeal to all those interested in the natural and social history of the area, to Park visitors, mineral collectors, gemmologists and members of the antique and jewellery trades.
Running to 184 pages, the book follows the now well-established format of Minerals of Cornwall and Devon, Minerals of the English Lake District-Caldbeck Fells and Minerals of Northern England, page size 276 x 218 mm, and is lavishly illustrated with 229 colour photographs, 4 colour maps, 2 colour diagrams and 17 monochrome images. An extensive list of over 300 references complements the text and a comprehensive index is provided.
The following sample pages give you a look inside the book (PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE A LARGE VERSION):
Crystal Mountains – history sample page p13
Crystal Mountains – sample page topaz p84
Crystal Mountains – sample page topaz p89
Crystal Mountains Jewellery and Artefacts sample
page
Crystal Mountains – sample page beryl p74
Please take a look at my video of the Cairngorms, especially if you have not yet visited the area Crystal Mountains video – a celebration of the Cairngorms
GEOSCIENTIST ONLINE – REVIEW OF CRYSTAL MOUNTAINS
See here for a review of the book by Mark Griffin for the Geological Society’s Geoscientist https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Books-Arts/Geoscientist-book-reviews-online/2015-Book-Reviews-Online/Crystal-Mountains-Minerals-of-the-Cairngorms
CRYSTAL MOUNTAINS FEATURED ON BBC RADIO SCOTLAND OUT OF DOORS
During a recent trip to the Cairngorms, Roy met up with Mark Stephen, presenter for the popular BBC Radio Scotland programme Out of Doors. The interview took place at Braemar Castle and Roy discussed aspects of the project to produce the book, the Farquharson mineral collection and other topics of interest. The programme was only broadcast in Scotland but was available for 30 days on the BBC i-player – here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054szj5#auto
until 5th April.
Roy Starkey and Mark Stephen walking in to Braemar Castle 03 March 2015 – Copyright Laura McMeekin
Roy Starkey and Mark Stephen at Braemar Castle 03 March 2015 – Copyright Laura McMeekin
NEW REVIEW PUBLISHED IN MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE (Volume 78, No.7 December 2014)
A new review has just been published in the leading British mineralogical journal – see http://minmag.geoscienceworld.org/content/78/7/1795.extract
HEDDLE BIOGRAPHY PUBLISHED 5th June
My good friend Hamish Johnston is Matthew Forster Heddle’s Great Great Grandson and for the past several years he has been working to compile an authoritative biography of the great man – arguably the greatest mineralogist that Scotland has ever produced. I have been helping Hamish with various aspects of the project. The book is now available from NMS Publishing.
Hamish has a Facebook page to publicise the book https://www.facebook.com/matthew.forster.heddle so do please take a look.
If you are a Facebook user Hamish will be very grateful if you ‘Like’ the page so that we can generate as much publicity as possible for the book. Please also pass on the link to your friends who may be interested, and of course – BUY THE BOOK!
The cover of Hamish Johnston’s biography of Matthew Forster Heddle
New reviews
The last few months have seen several more reviews published e.g. Gems and Jewellery May-June 2015; and Rocks and Minerals magazine (USA) http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00357529.2015.1012963?journalCode=vram20
Cairngorm in the news!
The famous large crystal of smoky quartz presented to Queen Victoria by James Grant back in 1850 has been in the news recently. The coverage has been rather confused, and not particularly accurate, but I’m told that there is no such thing as bad publicity – so remain grateful for anything which brings the Cairngorm story to the attention of the public. See, for example http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/quartz-given-to-queen-victoria-found-at-balmoral-castle-1-3865482
25th September – 1st Anniversary of Publication – tomorrow!
The 25th of September 2015 marks the first anniversary of the book launch in Edinburgh, and it has been an exciting and interesting year. The book has generated a lot of interest, and I’ve had plenty of positive feedback which is great. A big thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy!
My annual pilgrimage to the Cairngorms this year was marked by a spectacular overnight thunderstorm which lead to serious flooding, and at least one helicopter rescue https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/640719/angler-rescued-from-rapids-on-moray-river/ and http://www.insidemoray.com/tourist-rescue-as-moray-river-rose-five-feet-in-15-minutes/. I was camping high up on the flanks of Ben Macdui on the night of 23rd July, and it certainly made for a memorable experience! The picture below shows our camp site before the storm came in overnight.
The end of the journey – 8 May 2022 !
The last remaining copy of Crystal Mountains was sold at the Oxford Mineral Show today during the launch of my new book Making it Mine – Sir Arthur Russell and his Mineral Collection.
The lucky purchaser was Claire Connolly – thanks and congratulations Claire!
