Furtwängler, Adolf. DIE ANTIKEN GEMMEN. GESCHICHTE DER STEINSCHNEIDEKUNST IM KLASSISCHEN ALTERTUM. ERSTER BAND: TAFELN. ZWEITER BAND: BESCHREIBUNG UND ERKLÄRUNG DER TAFELN. DRITTER BAND: GESCHICHTE DER STEINSCHNEIDEKUNST IM KLASSISCHEN ALTERTUM. Two original text volumes (Leipzig und Berlin: Giesecke & Devrient, 1900) with reprint of plate volume (Amsterdam and Osnabrück: Hakkert & Zeller, 1964). Three volumes total, complete. Folio, matching modern blue cloth with black leather spine and cover labels lettered in gilt. xvi, (2) + (8), 330, (2) + (4), vii–xiii, (3), 464, (2) pages; text illustrations; 67 + 3 fine tinted plates. Volume I hinge cracked; Volumes II and III with purple staining to page edges that, while marginal, somewhat affects the integrity of the paper. Very good, overall. A mixed edition set of the classic work, combining original text volumes with high-quality reprint plates. Still of the greatest importance. Sinkankas 2277: “The word ‘monumental’ is justly applied to this work in respect not only to its size but also its content; it is the most comprehensive monograph ever published on the engraved gems of antiquity. Zazoff, Gemmensammler, p 224, states that ‘no catalog, no encyclopedia article, no engraved gem book in the following period did not [fail] to orient itself upon Furtwängler.’ To confer the greatest accuracy and authenticity to his work, Furtwängler personally visited many European museums to examine their collections. The first volume of 67 heliogravure plates, tinted in pale grayish-blue, sepia, or pale gray, provides images of many gems per plate, ranging from Near Eastern cylinder seals to Roman gems, while a series of plates depict several very large engraved gems as the great Parisian cameo, the Farnese tazza, and others which are not treated in the normal chronological order of the remainder of the plates... The second volume describes the depicted gems, with some additions and corrections appended to the main text. Such descriptions furnish data on gem material, provenance, where previously published, and remarks, but no dimensions inasmuch as all are shown actual-size. While these first two volumes are vital to the success of the work as a whole, it is the third volume which proves to be most valuable in terms of the information provided by Furtwängler on such aspects of engraved gem study as origins, significances, engravers, meanings of gems, values, use, their collectors, famous collections, techniques of engraving, and many more topics... The first issue of this work was a costly project and relatively few sets were sold with the result that any set offered is very expensive...” An opportunity to acquire a set at a fraction of the cost of the original.