Text French. Rare and important work in the history of crystallography, which aimed to provide a comprehensive view of the internal structure of minerals through the use of optical properties. Alfred Des Cloizeaux (1817 -1897) was among the first investigators to recognize the utility of the polarizing microscope for mineral analysis. The author worked on this publication for over thirty-five years - the work was never totally completed, only two volumes were published. The second volume (not present here) was published 1874-1893. Illustrations include: five colour-mounted figures in the text; 22 plates (nos 1-22) bound in the text block depicting stereo net projections of various crystal forms of minerals; 52 plates (I-LII) bound in the rear, illustrating crystal drawings of various mineral species, the first plate illustrates a polarizing microscope. The latter group of plates are printed double-sided, and due to an error in imposition, are erratically numbered towards the end, but all are present. [48513]