Troost's Diamonds

摘要

Thomas Moore's article on Diamond Crystals (v. 33, no. 1) mentions several historical collections containing diamonds. Gerard Troost (1776-1850), was a prominent early 19th collector in the U.S. His collection has been part of Louisville, Kentucky's history since the 1870's and is now part of the Louisville Science Center's collection. A review of Troost's extensive catalog indicates that he had 13 diamond crystals in his collection-all from Brazil-out of a total of about 13,000 mineral specimens. About 25 years ago, a small number of Troost's most prized specimens were found locked away in a forgotten safe in the basement of the Louisville Free Public Library. Among the specimens are the best early 19th century gold crystal from Lumpkin County, Georgia and a matrix specimen of Emerald from Columbia that dates back to late 18th century. Both specimens have previously been illustrated in The Mineralogical Record (vol. 15, no. 3), in an article I wrote on Gerard Troost and his collection.