---
title: "George Frederick Kunz"
chunk: 2/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frederick_Kunz"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:07:04.269793+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Kunz, George Frederick (1888). "Diamonds in Meteorites". Science. ns-11 (266): 118–119. doi:10.1126/science.ns-11.266.118-a. PMID 17799324. S2CID 40675694. Kunz, George Frederick (January–March 1891). "Exhibition of Gems Used as Amulets, etc". The American Journal of Folklore. 4 (12). American Folklore Society: 29–31. doi:10.2307/532930. JSTOR 532930. Kunz, George Frederick. "The genesis of the diamond" Science, pp. 450–456, 1897
Baskerville, Charles; Kunz, G F. "Kunzite and its unique properties" American Journal of Science, vol.18, no.103, pp. 25–28, July 1904
Kunz, George Frederick. "The cause of the San Francisco earthquake" Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp. 289–290, 1908
Kunz, George Frederick. "Diamonds in North America" Geological Society of America Bulletin, vol.42, no.1, pp. 221–222, March 1931. Kunz, George F. Gems and Precious Stones of North America: A Popular Description of Their Occurrence, Value, History, Archaeology, and of the Collections in Which They Exist; Also a Chapter on Pearls, and on Remarkable Foreign Gems Owned in the United States. Illustrated with eight colored plates and numerous minor engravings. New York: The Scientific Publishing Co. 1890. 336 pages. Second edition with Appendix, 367 pp. 24 Pls., 1892. Kunz George F. Gems, Jewelers’ Materials, and Ornamental Stones of California. Bulletin of the California State Mining Bureau. 1905. California State Mining Bureau, Bulletin #37. 171 pages. 1905. (K480(276) K96) Also published as a second edition with a slightly changed title: "Semi-precious Stones, Gems, Jewelers’ Materials and Ornamental Stones of California." "The report referred to is Kunz’s Gems, Jeweler’s Materials and Ornamental Stones of California, 1905. Even the publication of this work evoked controversy. Kunz’s name does not appear on the title page nor the outside of the book. However, Lewis Aubury, State Mineralogist of California, does give Kunz a thank you in print for all his efforts. Kunz, although he must have been upset by the snub, according to tradition, promptly obtained a quantity of the reports for personal distribution, had them bound in a kunzite-pink cloth, and had his name stamped on the title page and cover!"  Pages 36–44 give a summary of the diamond occurrences in California. Kunz, George Frederick. History of the Gems Found in North Carolina. Raleigh: E.M. Uzzell & Co., public printers and binders, 1907. xvii, 60 p., 15 pages of plates, 4 colored plates. Bulletin (North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey); no. 12. North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey. A hard bound copy of this item is also held in the Kunz Collection of the USGS Library, but is not cataloged. [302] A thorough report, prepared by Kunz at the behest of the North Carolina authorities in time for distribution at the Jamestown [Virginia] Exposition. The illustrations include a number of notable specimens, some drawn from the Morgan-Tiffany and Morgan-Bement Collections at the American Museum of Natural History. The four color plates, for which this work is especially noted, were printed by Prang. Pages 5–9 discusses the history of various diamond occurrences. Gemology bibliographer John Sinkankas states, "The photographs are of very good quality, but it is the richly colored lithographs that make this work as highly prized for them as for the text. ..Plate 3 facing page 9 depicts what was then the largest emerald crystal mined in North Carolina; it is the same that was stolen in 1950 from the American Museum of Natural History in New York and never recovered. Also upon this plate, pasted in its upper right-hand corner, is a small rectangle of a diamond crystal from Dysortville, while the plate numeral of "III" is obviously an erased area which bore some other number, now unknown." Of all of Kunz's major works, "History of the Gems Found in North Carolina" is by far his rarest book in the antiquarian book market. Kunz, George F. Ivory and the Elephant in Art, in Archaeology, and in Science. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co. Pages: 527. 1916. Illustrated with over 150 full-page plates, four folding plates and maps, text illustrations. Kunz's classic study of the procuring and working of ivory, from the ancient period to modern times. Chapters on evolution and development of the elephant, on elephant hunting and on the art and commerce of ivory carving. The book is dedicated to Prof. Alfred Lacroix, curator of the Mineralogical Department of the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. This is the most scarce of all Dr. Kunz' works, and includes information not found in other publications by Dr. Kunz. There were at least three editions of this book printed. After the public edition, a separate edition was published first for the "Belgian Congo Edition,"  then a third copy run was published for the "Hobby Club", established 1911. Kunz, George F. The Magic of Jewels and Charms. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. 1915. 422 pages with 90 illustrations in color, doubletone and line. Facts and fancies about a fascinating subject, including anecdotal history and research from India to the Americas. "Magic jewels and electric gems; meteorites or celestial stones; stones of healing; fabulous stones; concretions and fossils; snake stones and bezoars; charms of ancient and modern times; facts and fancies about precious stones. Each profusely illustrated in color, doubletone and line. Octavo. Handsome cloth binding, gilt top, in a box..."
Kunz, George F. Natal Stones; Sentiments and Superstitions Associated with Precious Stones. New York: Tiffany & Co. 1891. (American Museum of Natural History’s copy signed by Dr. Kunz on October 8, 1927). This interesting little book helped sell many precious and semi-precious stones associated with birthdays. The first edition had 15 pages, and gradually expanded over the years, reaching a high of 40 pages. The final 31st edition appeared in 1931. Kunz, George F. "Remarkable Crystal Skull." Exchanger's Monthly: Devoted to Mineralogy, Geology and Archaeology. Jersey City, NJ. Volume II, Number 12, October 1887, page 95. Read before the meeting of the New York meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, August 12, 1887. Mr. Kunz relates the provenance of the skull, and proposes that the rock crystal came from California and is made in a Mexican fashion. Kunz, George F. "Reminiscences of Dr. George Frederick Kunz as Told to Marie Benyon Bey." Journal of the Geo-Literary Society. "American Travels of a Gem Expert." Volume 15, number 2, pages 6–14, May 2000; "American Travels of a Gem Collector, Parts 1&2." Volume 15, number 3, pages 10–19, August 2000; "Part III: Reminiscences of Dr. George F. Kunz- American Travels of a Gem Collector as Told to Marie Beynon Ray (From the Saturday Evening Post, January 21, 1928)" Volume 15, number 4, pages 15–24. "Indestructible Value…" Volume 16, number 3, pages 14–24, 2001. Reprint of his Saturday Evening Post series, from 1927 and 1928. Kunz, George F. "On Phosphorescent Diamonds [Tiffanyite]." Read before the academy on May 20, 1895. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences. Volume 14, page 260. 1895. Also Mineralogical Magazine. Volume 11, page 241. 1897. The various colors of diamonds are attributed to the presence of hydrocarbons, and phosphorescence and fluorescence of certain diamonds are attributed to a bluish white substance, which is undoubtedly a hydrocarbon, and for which the name Tiffanyite is proposed. See also: "Tiffanyite." Transactions of the New York Academy of Science, vol. 14. Kunz, George F.