Here we go, as threatened yesterday here are a couple of pics from my collection.
First up is Dr. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, first published in 1755 in two huge folio volumes. A new first edition would set you back £25,000+. This however is a facsimile edition that cost considerably less. Said to be the first 'proper' English Dictionary (there were several others) this and its many reprints was the dictionary of choice before the OED appeared.
The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) actually started life as the New English Dictionary and was nearly 70 years in the making. It was issued in fascicles on a very irregular basis and if you bought the first fascicle (A - Ant 1884) on your 20th birthday you would get the last fascicle (Wise - the end of W 1928) (it was not completed alphabetically) when you were 64!
The completed dictionary is made up of 12 volumes (plus supplement in 1933) and contains 15,487 pages, defining 414,825 words.
These tomes are absolutely huge leather bound affairs and I suspect weigh more than I do!
My other hobby is micro minerals. These are tiny and require the use of a decent stereo zoom microscope to view them properly. The images below were taken with specialist equipment and all are roughly 4mm across. I use photo stacking software so each image is made up of many individual shots to get the correct depth of field. If I recall the Scholzite was no fewer than 129 photos stacked into one image....never again!
Chalcopyrite crystals...
Grossular Garnets...
Tufts of Gypsum crystals.....
Holmbushite first discovered in Cornwall.....
Linarite crystals....
Needles of Malachite from Australia.....
Scholzite also from Australia....
Wavellite 'suns'....
Another form of Wavellite...
If you're still awake, thanks for looking :
:
Regards,
Jay.