This study aims to introduce gemmological writings known in the West from Antiquity to the Renaissance. From the Ancient period throughout the Renaissance, gemstones were considered to have medical, magical, and prophylactic properties. Information about gemstones can be gathered from encyclopaedias, lapidaries, medical, alchemical, and astrological works. The encyclopaedic traditions that can be referred to are, for example, Naturalis historia of Pliny the Elder, Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville, Physica of Hildegard of Bingen, and De mineralibus of Albertus Magnus. Lapidaries that contain information include Theophrastus' De lapidibus, pseudo-Aristotelian Lapidarium, Marbode of Rennes' De lapidibus, and Damigeron's De virtutibus lapidum and medical writings such as Dioscorides' De materia medica. In these works, the medical, magical, mystical, and prophylactic properties of gemstones are discussed, for example, smaragdus to cure a scorpion bite, calcedonius to win lawsuits, and so on. The primary sources in Arabic are Secretum secretorum and a book of magic, Picatrix. De quindecim stellis, quindecim lapidibus, and puindecim herbis et quindecim imaginibus attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and De veta libri tres of Marsilio Ficino, as well as De mineralibus of Albertus Magnus explain images engraved on stones which supposedly have celestial powers. Another source of information on gemstones is Bede's Explanatio Apocalypsis, which comments on gemstones listed in the Bible.
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