Introductory material

Prof. F. W. Clarke, former honorary curator of the Division of Mineralogy who assembled the Smithsonian Institution’s first gem collection in 1884.

Dr. Isaac Lea, Philadelphia gem collector whose collection was the nucleus around which the Smithsonian Institution’s gem collection has been built through the years.

Dr. Leander T. Chamberlain, son-in-law of Dr. Isaac Lea, who became honorary curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s gem collection in 1897. Income from his bequest is used to purchase gems for the Isaac Lea gem collection.

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