structure and composition of stone

[Erik Stainsby <stainsby@xxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings, Stone List People,

I am interested to find a couple of textbooks on the
composition and the physical structure of various
carving materials.  I believe this will give me a better
understanding of the character of the stones I am likely
to encounter and work on.  So far my local library is
not yielding up the answers.

Now I am the first to admit this is most likely because
I am not posing the question correctly.  Geology,
geography, geophysics all seem to be concerned with the
macro-scale of Earth as a system.  Mineralogy is focused
on metallic ore carrying media.  And now I run into a
... basalt wall.

Clues and directions appreciated.  Among the stones I
know I will be working in the near future, to greater or
lesser degrees, are marble (purported to be from
Carrera), granite, local marble, and limestone (from
Indiana).  The local marble comes from Vancouver Island
and is rumoured to be uncharacteristically hard to the
chisel.  I am on the West Coast of Canada.

I appreciate your time and look forward to thoughtful
answers. Oh, I have very good internet connectivity at
my disposal, so on-line reference material would be just
as good as print.

Thanks folks,
Erik Stainsby

stainsby
  @
telus.net