I have found that the mineral alexandrite is described by a recurrent phrase, "emerald by day, ruby by night". I am trying to ascertain if this expression was current in a text written before 1910. A search in Google Books yielded results as far as 1913 (in Diamonds, Pearls and Precious Stones). How old is this expression?
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3"emerald by day, ruby by night" is not a set phrase. "X by day and Y by night" (and variants) is a common construction. As you have found only one source, I assume that the author liked the example and used it more than once. The website This is Gems thesisgems.com/blogs/news/… says that the mineral and its properties were discovered in Russia in the 1830s. The phrase, in English, will have been used some time after that– GreybeardCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 15:43
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1The earliest reference I can find is 1890, The Critic, talking about Walt Whitman being ...like that strange Siberian stone which is an emerald by day and a ruby by night he is different at different times, mood-struck or moon-struck according to your mood , as variable as a silk that is shot through... But there are lots of "One colour by day, another by night" references to various minerals, plants, insects,...– FumbleFingersCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 17:19
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2I’m voting to close this question because it's asking for the "origin" of an utterance that's really just an unexceptional "observation" (it's not a "saying" that would have been meaningfully "coined").– FumbleFingersCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 17:21
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2If this is a maxim in a particular area such as geology or crystal healing, you could ask in a relevant place and see if there is some more obscure source. But if there is a much earlier answer than what Google Books has, it may well be in a foreign language (German maybe) in which case English Language and Usage is definitely not the best place.– Stuart FCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 18:13
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1Alexandrite was only discovered in 1830. That would put a limit on its origin.– ChenmunkaCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 18:18
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1 Answer
The stone was first found in Siberia and early references to it all describe it in that context. Its optical properties were noted when it was discovered, but the specific saying in question originated much later in the 19th century.
The oldest reference I can find is from the travelogue Five Thousand Miles in a Sledge: A Mid-winter Journey Across Siberia (Gowing 1889):
The topaz, the amethyst, and the alexandrite, the curious stone which shows like the emerald by day and the ruby by night, are to be had here in abundance at moderate prices; and pretty objects carved in malachite, lapis lazuli, and numerous other varieties of beautiful minerals are on sale everywhere.
(After writing this up, I realized that @TimR had also discovered this source in the comments section, so I can't claim priority for this discovery.)
I can't prove, of course, that Gowing originated the phrase. One possibility is that the saying originated in Russian before being translated.
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It is not clear why this would be characterised as a saying in any language. It is simply a description of this particular stone; there is no evidence of its having ever been used for any other purpose.– jsw29Commented Jan 2 at 18:40