Prehnite ''casts'' after Glauberite

Item Description

There are several trap rock quarries in northern New Jersey which are well known for their superb Prehnite "casts" (epimorphs / perimorphs) replacing various minerals like Anhydrite, Laumontite or Glauberite. Most of the time you'll see replacements after Anhydrite but the famous pieces from the Fanwood Quarry (Weldon Quarry) are the BEST casts after Glauberite from any New Jersey trap rock locality. These are truly some of the most magnificent Prehnite after Glauberite "casts" in the world. This specimen is a top quality piece of this material featuring many light green, sparkling crystallized Prehnite "casts" after rhombic shaped Glauberite on minor matrix. The largest "cast" measures 2.1 cm long. You can see the perfect rhombic cross-section on the one "cast" that was broken, clearly not Anhydrite, and despite the labels that have circulated over the years, these are not "casts" after Laumontite either. A fine piece of these now hard to find specimens. This particular specimen was collected in Nov-Dec 1987 by Mark Bianchi.
From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#5767). 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. The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.