Axinite-(Fe) (ex Kay Robertson Collection) (Historic Piece - ex Bosch and Albertazzo!)

Item Description

Le Bourg-d'Oisans is a famous old locality in the French Alps, and is the type locality for well-known minerals like Epidote, Anatase and Axinite-(Fe) (formerly Ferroaxinite). This piece is an incredibly historic specimen dating back to the 19th century (1882 specifically). The label accompanying the piece states that it belonged to the famous chemist and mineral collector Dr. Carl Bosch and was purchased on August 15, 1882 from the famed mineralogist and crystal guide Napoleon Albertazzo! Now I don't think that Bosch specifically purchased the piece from Albertazzo as he was only 8 years old at the time, but I'm only going with the information provided. It should be noted that Albertazzo was a major force in his day as he was the key figure responsible for the collecting and preservation of minerals from Le Bourg-d'Oisans. The piece itself is not a killer per se, but it is a decent cabinet sized specimen loaded with sharp, lustrous, clove purple colored blades of Axinite-(Fe) measuring up to 1.8 cm on matrix. Most of the crystals are contacted, but the historical significance and value certainly outweigh the fact that the piece isn't pristine. The piece is accompanied by an old hand-written label from Bosch that puts the exact locality at La Balme d'Auris, a well-known spot for Axinite-(Fe) back in the 1800s. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#6104). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).