Stephen Sinnote - The Fabulous Keokuk Geodes

Does anyone know what became of Mr. Sinnote and/or his efforts to author additonal volumes of this classic book (i.e. volume I implies that additional volumes were planned)?

Regards,

Lou

I came across this previous post and as it is quite old, I am not sure how relevant it is in this summer of 2012. Mr Sinotte was an avid Keokuk Iowa area geode collector who wrote his book on "The Fabulous Keokuk Geodes" about 1969. The book implied, as the previous blogger noted, that another volume would eventually come out. Several folks that I know and knew Steve Sinotte were of a split opinion on this question. One thought that a small pamphlet might have been published while another collector thought nothing ever was published after his first (and only) book. There certainly was not another volume like his first.

I believe Steve Sinotte was associated with Western Illinois University about that time in the late 1960s into the 1970s. I believe he went to work for Upjohn Drug Company in Kalamazoo Michigan after that. Upjohn Drug went thru a series of complex corporate changes around 1995 and is now largely part of Pfizer Drug company. It seems that Sinotte lost interest in geodes and rock collecting as not much from him in more recent years. Googling him reveals a person of that same name and similar age currently living in the Portage Michigan area which is a suburb of Kalamazoo.

I think that he and his wife may have sold their mineral collection. I bought an item from it at auction last year and have seen others passing th same way.

Thanks gentlemen for your posts answering my question.

Bob, your posts regarding "those fabulous Indiana geodes" are just amazing.

Best regards,

Lou

THANKS LOU and OWEN !! Yes, I also have seen several non geode mineral specimens with his or his wife's collection label offered for sale within the past year or two. Interestingly none of the specimens I have seen was a geode, in fact I believe (not sure about this) none of the offered specimens seemed to be from the Midwest. It is possible that he still has his geode collection or it was sold intact to another collector or museum etc.

His book, now considered a classic, commands a sale premium if you can find one on Amazon etc. Unfortunately though, the pictures are of poor quality by today's standards. Lou, thanks for your kind words about my Indiana geode collection. It continues to grow (much to my wife's chagrin!), albeit slowly now. CHEERS........BOB

For any newbies reading this post and are interested in geodes, his book is considered to be the definitive guide to the Keokuk Geode area and is a GREAT addition to your book collection, providing you can find a copy available. Mine set me back just over $200 and that was about 6 or 7 years ago. For anyone looking for old books, I enjoy browsing at www.abebooks.com

Cheers,

Dave

I agree that Sinotte's book is excellent and I was fortunate to obtain a copy along with a selection of 30 geodes formerly in the Sinotte collection. Some of the geodes were actually pictured in the book to my surprise! The geodes were sold to a Phoenix collector in the early 1970s and were subsequently displayed at Tucson. I bought the lot a few years ago and have been slowing selling them off on eBay and at shows, etc. The largest example is still with me here in my mineral den. All the geodes were collected by Sinotte (or his partners) and bear his numbers. I never had the opportunity to collect in the Keokuk area but have collected quite a bit in southern Indiana for geodes with fair success. My own personal favorites are the dark slightly iridescent ones with secondary calcite and the fabulous pink calcites associated with lustrous sphalerite crystals---the variety of Keokuk geodes is amazing.

DANA Thanks for your update. If you have some pix of the Keokuk geodes you speak of, it would be nice to see pix of them on the "midwest sedimentary geodes" thread. CHEERS.......BOB

It would be nice to see a good photograph of him and to have a biographical sketch for Mindat.

Best Wishes, Van King

I was in Keokuk last summer and visited their very helpful public library. They have four or five references dealing with the Keokuk geodes, including Sinnote's Vol. 1. On the end-paper of one of the other books or pamphlets there is a picture of Mr. Sinnote looking over what is purportedly "Volume 2" of his "Fabulous Keokuk Geodes". But as far as I am aware it was in fact never published - it is not in the Keokuk library.

I have owned 8 or 9 copies of this book over the years including two now, I have searched and searched for the "missing pamphlet" but never found one, so if there is one out there they are even more rare then the book itself. Another thing that is hard to come by is the map in the back of the book, seems that for every two or three copies only one has the map. Special note, there were just 1000 copies of the book published!!

enjoy
E

I once had a copy of Volume I and wish I still had it. I have never seen another copy since.

Someone once told me that Volume II was supposed to have been a locality guidebook, but whether it was ever actually published I do not know.

However, I did run across a couple of references in the October 1971 issue of Rocks and Minerals magazine: "Geode Field Trips to St. Francisville, Mo., and Geode Mine, Keokuk, Iowa, Area" by Stephen R. Sinotte (pages 579-583). This appears to be an announcement of special field trips or safari to which people could sign up and pay for. In this he mentions that he is the “author of two volumes” so it seems that he at least worked on Volume II. Then on the following page (p.584) is the following: “The Fabulous Keokuk Geodes, Volume II, By Stephen R. Sinotte” which takes up 2/3 of the page, and seems to be a publication announcement:

“The second volume of “The Fabulous Keokuk Geodes” is a field guide for collectors. This handy reference book is profusely illustrated with complete charts and maps to over 100 individual choice collecting locations in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Each location is described in detail as to exactly where the best geodes are to be found. Many of the locations are supplemented with photographs of the exposure and its geode types.”

Subsequent paragraphs describe the book as a true field guide, with a complete location index, and new locations, as well as a chapter on the geology of the area and the geode beds, and a chapter concerned with methods of prospecting for new geode locations. General contents are given as Introduction, Geology of the Keokuk, Iowa area, Field guide for collectors, Prospecting for new locations, and Index.

“No rockhound or mineral collector vacationing in geode country can really afford to be without this indispensable guide. Soon to be released in a limited quantity at $9.95, reserve your copy now during our special prepublication offer: Only $6.95 ppd., a savings of $3. Special Offer: Order both Volume I and Volume II as a set and save additional money. Only $24.95 for both volumes, ppd. Send check or money order to: GEODES, P. O. Box 224, Portage, Michigan 49081.”

No number of pages, or size, mentioned, but it seems that if this Volume II were ever published, that it might have been, if we go by proportion of the prices, about 40% of the size of Volume I. However, note that word “prepublication offer” which seems to indicate that at the time of this announcement, that Volume II had not yet been published.

DANA Interesting info update on Steve Sinotte's "second volume" . Firstly I note that his name was spelled correctly by you as the original post had it spelled wrong. As I previously posted, there are split opinions as to whether any "second volume" of any type ever came out. If any type of field guide or pamphlet publication was ever printed and sold, someone out there somewhere should still have a copy. Unless and until I see a hard copy of something subsequent to his volume 1, I remain skeptical.

Amazon.com currently (August 2012) lists several copies for sale, generally from about $100+ to $300+ depending on condition. My copy was originally given as a 1970 Christmas gift to a fellow by the name of Fred V. Grau who apparently collected these geodes. As Everett H mentioned in his post, the best copies should include the fold out map at the book's end. An intact dust jacket also should be present.

Another relatively recent good and hard to find book with some value is "Gem and Crystal Treasures" by Peter Bancroft 1984. This was his second large size "coffee table" book with his first published in 1973 and only of moderate premium value today. Some, if not most, copies of the 1984 book are autographed by him so look for that. If this thread continues, I have a great story behind finding my copy. CHEERS............BOB

Google books lists another book by Stephen R. Sinotte:

Title Geode Country
Author Stephen R. Sinotte
Publisher Geodes Company, 1972
Length 61 pages
Subjects Geodes
Petrology

JOHN So does Amazon......... several sources list a book, but whether it was actually printed and sold is another story. Hence my statement: A HARD COPY PLEASE !

I can see an error in my math (in my previous post) as to the possible size of the book, but whether it (Volume 20 was ever published I don't know. However, I have a certain disinclination to believe much in "pre-publication" offers (publishers have sometimes made these, then later it turns out that they don't keep to the terms of their offers), and if the book were ever actually printed, wouldn't a copy be still existing somewhere? And what became of the author's manuscript - was it lost, perhaps by the publisher? What happened to prevent its publication? A puzzle to mystify.

Geode Country was published. According to a review in the Mineralogical Record (Vol 3 No 6), it was a condensed version of Fabulous Keokuk Geodes.

Hi Bob,

Sorry for the late post...I'll see about getting a few pics of the Sinotte geodes here on mindat. Take care!

For me the saga of Stephen Sinotte and his books continues. At the Denver show a book dealer with whom I have done business several times in the past, made me aware of this 1972 Stephen Sinotte 61 page geode pamphlet which I now have. The photo on the back of the front cover is his Vol I book and the photo on the front of the back cover is the elusive Vol II which no one seems to have ever had or seen a hard copy. So there is a pamphlet and an add for volume II, but ?????? a hard copy of volume II. It is noteworthy that Mr. Sinotte had moved to Portage, Michigan by 1972.

Parenthetically, the book dealer (at the Denver show) had a copy of volume I in good complete condition for $175. Should anyone out there want it, I can supply the dealer details. CHEERS..........BOB.