Copyright © 2024 by Helen Molesworth
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
Ballantine Books & colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Originally published in hardcover in the United Kingdom by Doubleday, an imprint of Transworld in 2024. Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Molesworth, Helen, author.
Title: Precious: the history and mystery of gems across time / Helen Molesworth.
Description: First edition. | New York: Ballantine Books, [2024] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2024010974 (print) | LCCN 2024010975 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593500880 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593500897 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Gems—History.
Classification: LCC NK5550 .M65 2024 (print) | LCC NK5550 (ebook) | DDC 736/.209—dc23/eng/20240506
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024010974
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024010975
Ebook ISBN 9780593500897
Book illustrations by Tony and Hannah at Global Creative Learning
Book design by Barbara M. Bachman, adapted for ebook
Cover design: Studio Secondo
Cover photograph: ©Yevonde Portrait Archive/ILN/Mary Evans Picture Library
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