Botryogen (fine color) (ex Bill and Anne Cook Collection)

Item Description

Botryogen is a rare hydrated iron magnesium sulfate mineral, and the specimens form the Libiola Mine in Liguria, Italy have some of the best color and quality crystals you'll see. The Libiola specimens have a slightly richer red hue, better than most you'll find from other world localities. This toenail sized piece features rather sharp, well-formed, lustrous, gemmy, rich red colored monoclinic crystals measuring to a few mm on matrix. There are a few bruises on the piece, but most of the crystals are in excellent shape. We've photographed the piece with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio. This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.