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V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 37, September 9, 2001, Article 9 EDWARD GIBBON'S NUMISMATIC WRITINGS E. Tomlinson Fort writes: "In reply to H. Douglas Owens' question about Edward Gibbon as a numismatic writer: Most people may not know this, but Gibbon was well acquainted with ancient numismatics. His letters, journals and autobiography record that he studied the coins in a number of great collections in France, Italy and Switzerland. Around 1765 he began work on an essay entitled: "Principes de Poids, des Monnoies, et des Mesures des Anciens," ["Principles of the weights, coins and measures of the Ancients." Gibbon was bilingual and equally at home in French as he was in English.] For a number of reasons, the work was never finished and never progressed beyond the stage of some notes and a very rough and uncompleted draft. The original manuscripts are now in the collection of the British Library. It was eventually edited and published under the guidance of Gibbon's friend and literary executor Lord Sheffield in 1815. Numismatic discussions also appear in Gibbon's most famous work, "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (London, 1776-1788). If you are using a modern edition, be sure that it is unabridged since most of his numismatic comments are in the extensive footnotes [I recommend the three volume edition edited by David Womersely recently published by Penguin Books]. I will quickly admit that Gibbon's numismatic work was not of the volume or level of many scholars but he was well read in the subject and had a firm grasp (by the standards of his day) on the use of coinage as historical evidence."

Wayne Homren, Editor

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