Stuart Wilensky, one of the most prominent American dealers in ultrafine specimens, began publishing a series of beautiful hardcover picture books with this edition in 2005. These books, intended for private distribution, depict specimens which he has sold in the past, so none of the pictured items are currently for sale (by him, at least). A dealer’s long-time reputation is based, to a large extent, on the specimens that have passed through his hands over the years, and Stuart decided that he wanted to preserve some record of that. Fortunately he is an excellent photographer, and had recorded many of the specimens on film before selling them, so when the time came he was all set to self-publish the books.

This edition, Stuart Wilensky’s first compendium, contains photos of 68 world-class specimens including some real stunners, from purple Panasqueira apatite to water-clear Brazilian morganite, big Michigan coppers, Bolivian phosphophyllite, Perivian native silver and one of the finest Japan-law smoky quartz twins (from New Mexico) in existence. This hardcover book is a necessary part of any connoisseur’s library of documentation regarding top-quality specimens.