Ronald Everett Januzzi title

Does anyone know where I might obtain a copy of Januzzi's 1976 edition of "The Minerals of Connecticut and Southeastern New York State." Any information would be greatly appreciated!
-Thank you, Kevin

Kevin, PM sent.

One of the first field mineralogy books I bought.

I hope you found many a fine mineral using it!

Sorry for the very late response, but I do know that the Sojourner Truth Library at SUNY New Paltz has a 3rd edition copy of The Mineralogy of Western Connecticut and Southeastern New York State (Januzzi,1967).

Some of the libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System may have other editions.

Regards,

Phil

Hello Phil,
thanks for your note! I don't know what if any difference there is between the 1st and 3rd addition, but I am really hoping to locate an example of the last addition in 1976 as I know it expands the coverage of CT mines to at least central CT. I should contact some SW CT/ SE NY libraries to see if any have the latest addition.
-Thanks, Kevin

Just a reminder that a great many bits in those publications have been shown to be incorrect.

Best Wishes, Van King



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2011 11:47PM by Van King.

Hey Van,

Well, yes I've unfortunately had much experience with faulty collecting guides. I remember one from NY a while back that I thought went out of the way to give bad directions! I always take them with a grain of salt. At this point, any older CT guide will necessarily be faulty as half the localities will be under "golf courses" !!! :)

But thanks for the heads up.

-Take care, Kevin

I think the all time worst in terms of faulty and or vague directions, politically incorrect statements and just plain bizarro material is The Rock Hound's Guide to New York State.

My favorite, "drive to general area and ask the natives." >:D<

Probably the same one I was recalling!

Kevin

Some of the local collage geology librarys still have the books in there collections I have found.

Wayne

I don't know about the directions, but there are errors of mineralogical facts that make the book "uncitable" as a reference for what minerals are found at the places mentioned. Most locality data seem to be accurate.

I reviewed the "bizzaro" book mentioned and said that the maps looked like they were made with an Etch-a-Sketch toy. I mentioned what I thought were serious errors, but the review was "lost" by the magazine as the authors were also advertisers. Sigh!

Best Wishes, Van King

Whereas there exist many guidebooks that could have been better written, Januzzi’s book is not of that class, and should not be mistakenly included in such a category. A friend has a copy of his “Mineral Localities of Connecticut and Southeastern New York” (second edition, 1972) and I borrowed it and perused it, and checked the sites that had maps as well as directions, following them upon topo maps (on computer), and I found only two (of the 18, I remember) of which I had doubts, and which could have included a little more detail. I recall reading a comment about the guidebook (apparently an earlier edition) in an article in Matrix: A Journal of the History of Minerals, in an article by Mark I. Jacobson, “David M. Seaman: Mineral Collecting and The Evolving Role of Museums” (Matrix, Fall 1997, v.5, #3, p. 87-99): on its page 97 was mentioned Ron Januzzi and his guidebook, to quote: “Many New York and Connecticut mineral clubs used this guidebook for field trips for many years. The book set a standard for readability and map accuracy that many later guidebooks, copied from Januzzi’s, did not achieve.”

I believe that I have seen a copy of one of those later guidebooks authored by someone else, and it looks as if parts had been copied, but that some details (such as road direction and distances) had been left out. This phenomenon (of copying but leaving out essential details such as distances) is not new to the guidebook world; I have seen such poor copies of other guidebooks by different authors. However, I believe that Januzzi wrote his directions based upon reality, and checked them to make sure they were, for the most part, correct. I think I recall his mentioning something to that effect, in response to my query about a certain locality (I last saw him a little over a year ago; and though he was then in his early 80s, his mind was as sharp as ever). He has since moved back to Colorado, where he may still be researching minerals and mineralogy.