Meionite (località tipo) - Monte Somma, vulcano Somma-Vesuvio, Napoli, Italia - Altezza: 7.7 cm - Larghezza: 6.1 cm- 133 g

Watch a video of this specimen by following the Vimeo link below:
https://vimeo.com/1018939048

Ex. Les Fils d'Émile Deyrolle (Paris, 1896-1950's). Comes with the typical Deyrolle box and old label.

In June last year, Alain Martaud and I acquired parts of an old family collection in Marseille, gathered up between the late XIXth century and the 1960's by successive generations of collectors (probably city dignitaries).
This collection featured hundreds of specimens that were exclusively purchased from Deyrolle, a prominent Parisian naturalist dealer in this period, and had been kept stored in their original box until today, carefully sorted in several custom-made wooden mineral drawer cabinets.
The specimens by themselves date back from the early XIXth century up to the first half of the XXth century and consist mostly in European and American classics, as well as rare species and systematics ore samples.

Here is a very rare specimen of meionite (calcic end-member of the scapolite series) from the type-locality for the species: the Monte Somma volcano near Napoli!

The main meionite crystal reaches a remarkable 1.0 cm in width and shows dramatic skeletal growth, which is not very easy to picture.
You can also notice secondary peripheral crystals with the same quality and combination with glossy dark pyroxene.

Notice there are also microminerals that I can not identify: transparent blades and yellow crystals, possibly of even rarer species!

The Monte Somma is a mineralogical 'heavyweight' since the Antiquity: many volcanic-hydrothermal minerals were first described at this locality near the Napoli city, in the Vesuvio volcanic complex. Hence, the Monte Somma is the type-locality for dozens of relatively uncommon species!

A great historical specimen from the type-locality for the species, a piece of history about mineralogy and Italy.