I am hugely indebted to Wendell E. Wilson, Editor-in Chief of the Mineralogical Record, Inc. www.MineralogicalRecord.com for providing the historical information contained in this description and for his knowledgeable opinion regarding the date of this collection:

A Collection of Minerals, contained in a well made, mahogany cabinet with double doors, which open to reveal 4 trays, each one with individual, green card specimen compartments for 25 specimens. Cabinet dimensions 34 cm wide x 22.6 high x 28 deep. (The cabinet would benefit from the attention of a French Polisher.)

The unlabelled cabinet has a printed pamphlet (damaged) which states:

'Catalogue of Minerals, Arranged in Systematic Order in Agreement with The Introduction to Mineralogy By W. Phillips and R. Allan.'  This apparently refers to the 4th edition (1837) of William Phillips' Mineralogy volume.  William Phillips died in 1828.

Wendell Wilson informs me that he knows of no other published collaboration between Phillips and Allan.

The pamphlet lists 340 minerals. The specimen samples included in this cabinet are indicated in the margins.

A life-long collector, Robert Allan (1806-1863) was the son and student of mineralogist Thomas Allan.  He also studied under Wilhelm Haidinger.  While it is known that Allan was responsible for updating the 4th edition of William Phillips' volume, he was not known as a mineral dealer.

The compiler of the collection offered here is therefore something of a mystery.  However, it is of sufficient historic interest to have been selected for inclusion in a forthcoming Mineralogical Record issue.  Wendell Wilson's article will state in the closing paragraph:

"...........so it is tempting to conclude that the box was prepared by a very minor player.  And yet, whoever would have gone to the trouble of printing that catalog list, customizable to collections of various sizes, must have had a substantial business going - and was almost certainly British."

A collection from this early period is a rare find.